


Bonds of Chaos

by TheAnonymouxCats



Series: Bonds of Chaos [1]
Category: Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Non-Con to eventual Consent, Rape/Non-con Elements, Relationship that starts bad ends good, Sonic and Shadow hate each other, a lot of smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2019-11-29 08:15:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 12
Words: 50,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18220547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAnonymouxCats/pseuds/TheAnonymouxCats
Summary: Everyone thinks Chaos Energy is a gift; something special to have. To Sonic and Shadow, it's a curse. After Dark Sonic and Super Shadow use Chaos Control at the same time, their opposite energies create a bond that ties them together. There may be a way to undo the bond, but it would be at a great price. They hate each other, but can they find a way to love instead? Sonadow.





	1. Prologue

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

**Summary –**

_Everyone thinks Chaos Energy is a gift; something special to have. To Sonic and Shadow, it's a curse. After Dark Sonic and Super Shadow use Chaos Control at the same time, their opposite energies create a bond that ties them together. There may be a way to undo the bond, but it would be at a great price. They hate each other, but can they find a way to love instead? Sonadow._

**Warnings -**

This story is Rated M for dark themes, such as rape/non-con, and violence. If you are sensitive to these themes, avoid reading. We are not responsible if you do end up reading despite our warnings. We do not promote any of these themes, and do not encourage them in any way whatsoever. Complaints will be ignored, because we will assume you did not read this warning. Thank you.

**Notes -**

This story is the first in a set series. To avoid confusion, please read this one first before reading any others in the "Bonds Of Chaos" Series.

**OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

* * *

**Bonds of Chaos**

**Written by Anonymoux-Sonic  
Beta'd by Shadow**

**Prologue –**

"Shit!"

The explosion of metal shot outward into the street, the mobians that were trying to evacuate to the shelter screaming and turning another way. Sonic groaned as he fell against the ground, squeezing his eyes shut as one arm reached behind him to feel the damage. His back was bleeding, which was a shock -he never bled easily- with a piece of metal lodged into it. His fingers squeeze the grass under him as he grabs the shard and then puts his other hand to his mouth, biting into the glove as he pulls the metal out with a short, muffled cry.

Throwing the metal aside and collapsing in the grass for just one second, because dammit he deserved a breather, he lets out a shaky sigh and keeps his eyes closed, his ears flicking at the sound of explosions and buildings crumbling.

_Get up, idiot,_ he told himself, knowing that every second he wasted laying there was only going to lead to someone getting hurt.

" _Sonic?! Are you there?!"_ came the female cry from his communicator, and he sighs again, slowly lifting his arm close enough to his mouth so he could answer.

"Yeah, I'm alive," he mumbles, not sure how honest he was being with himself. He certainly didn't  _feel_  alive…

" _Oh, thank goodness! Are you injured?!"_ came the voice again, and he rolled his eyes, finally opening them.

"Nah, not at all," he lies through gritted teeth, putting his hands underneath him to force himself up to a sitting position. He winces when his back strains, his ears pinning back uncomfortably. He looks up through squinted eyes at the flying fortress turning the sky into a smoldering red and smoky grey, hundreds of robots zipping off of it like bees out of a nest. Fires were erupting throughout the city and buildings were collapsing under the stress of the battle. He only thanked Gaia they had time to get most of everyone to the underground shelter before the waves hit.

" _Sonic, we need help! Half of our G.U.N. support has been wiped out, and Knuckles is down!"_ again was the voice, and he closes his eyes, looking down.

"Yeah, I'm on it, Sal," he answers tiredly. All he had wanted was a nap. Seriously, was sleep too much to ask for?

He reaches behind him for the metal wall that use to be a flying ship, shakily grabbing onto it for support as he pulls himself to his feet. His leg hurt, bad, which meant something was wrong with it. His eyes narrow as he looks back up at the flying fortress, scanning it carefully.

There were no open weak points, for once anywhere that the eye could see. Powered by the Chaos Emeralds, each of the seven ships created by Eggman formed together into one, giant sky fortress, about triple the size of the Egg Carrier, and certainly equipped with more fire power. The ships could detach as they pleased, with the liberty of the doctor himself. They sat directly atop of New Mobotropolis, covering it with a dark shadow like a blanket. The emeralds themselves sat snugly within each of the ships, far out of reach or feel. Any time he tried to get into one of the ships, something would hit or blast him back. Eggman saw him coming every time…

A flash of blue erupted before him and he frowns, almost glaring at the black and red hedgehog that appeared before him. Shadow raises a brow at the hero, noticing all the of the injuries that he had obviously lied about. Sonic raises a brow back at him, not oblivious to the injuries the self proclaimed Ultimate Lifeform had as well. "Anything?" the cobalt hedgehog asks, not wanting to wait any longer. He's wasted enough time.

Shadow turns and looks up at the ship. "I can only feel the emeralds when I'm close enough, but it's impossible to stay long enough to draw on their power."

"We need a distraction," Sonic states, looking around. "We need him to pay attention to something else while we make the transformation…"

Shadow turns back to him with doubt. "You really believe our Super forms are going to do anything against that? Without enough energy they'll hardly last."

Sonic smirks, chuckling to himself. "What happened to that 'Ultimate Confidence?'" When Shadow glares at him the hero sighs. "Alright, yeah it's gonna be pretty tight. I'm sure if we're fast enough we could at least do enough damage."

"And then what?" Shadow about snaps. "What do we do when we're out of energy? Take a seat and let the doctor finish what he came to do? We're done here."

Sonic's eyes widen, before narrowing darkly. "We're  _hardly_  done here! We can still-!"

" _Sonic we need you here now!"_ came Sally's voice over the communicator.  _"I can't get Tails to respond!"_

A cold, terrible chill ran through Sonic then, and he looks up at the sky, for any sign of the red plane his little brother should be flying. There was none.

" _Sonic?!"_

The hedgehog goes quiet, gritting his teeth, both of his hands going up to his head to grab the fur there in frustration.

_Fuck,_ was all he could think.  _Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck-_ " _Fuck!"_  he exclaims suddenly, turning away and practically reeling over. He didn't feel good, not at all… They were completely and utterly screwed. Eggman was going to win. Tails…

_Fuck_ where was Tails?

"Faker, pull yourself together!" Shadow hisses, grabbing the hero by the shoulders and turning him around, holding him up.

Sonic only lets out a weak laugh, pulling away as he felt the energy in his body flip completely upside down, too strong for him to fight it. "I'll be your distraction," he says, grinning and unable to fight the energy any longer. Shadow blinks, taking a step back as he watches Sonic disappear in a black flash of energy.

Then three of seven ships explode.

" _What was that?!"_ came Rotor's voice over the com, and suddenly Rouge is yelling.

" _Sonic's gone Dark! Shadow get up there!"_

The striped hedgehog curses before teleporting to one of the ships that hasn't exploded yet, his ruby eyes squinted as he tried to see through the smoke and fire. Dark Sonic was making a mess of this thing…

He could at least feel the Chaos Emeralds now.

" _No!"_ came Eggman's enraged call over the speakers. " _Nononononononooooo!"_

"Dammit, faker," Shadow curses under his breath, taking off in a blur of gold as he tried to locate both Sonic and the Chaos Emeralds, before the darkened hero did something he regretted.

One after one, he finds the emeralds on the exploding vessels, gathering up six of them as the fortress is starting to collapse onto the city.

"Sonic!" Shadow calls over the communicator, hoping the idiot's energy wasn't interfering with the frequency. "Stop it! You're going to crush the city!"

It didn't stop.

"Son of a bitch," the hedgehog growls, dodging a malfunctioning laser canon and spindashing into the room that had the last emerald. Snatching it, he pulls it close, focusing on all seven emeralds' energies and letting them tap into his own. Figures he would have to not only stop the city from being crushed, but Sonic from being stupid, as usual.

He just hoped he wasn't too late.

After absorbing the raw, powerful energy of the seven emeralds, the now-golden biohog teleports to where he felt Sonic's energy the strongest.

Long and behold, it happened to be Eggman's control center.

Dark Sonic, in all his glory, stood on Eggman's console, looming over him, his sharp claws digging into the madman's throat. His eyes were a haunting white, glowing against the dark blue, almost black fur and aura he possessed. Eggman turned and saw Super Shadow, his eyes wide and hopeful.

"Sh-Sh-Sh-Shadow! Help me!"

Sonic's head turned quickly to the gold and red hedgehog, who walked calmly up to both of them with a cautious frown. "Faker, let him go. The city is going to be crushed if we don't get this thing out of here, as are all of your friends."

The dark hedgehog frowned and dropped the doctor, who scrambled away to his flying pod and activated it.

"This thing is set to self destruct, once all of the Chaos Emeralds are removed!" Eggman grins, boasting as if he hadn't been scared out of his shell only moments ago. "You're all doomed!" With that, he activates his pod and shoots through the escape path, causing Dark Sonic to growl and hurl a Chaos Spear where the human had been.

"Faker!" Shadow grabs the hero's arm, turning him to face him. Sonic snarled at him, trying to pull back, but Shadow held tight, forcing the other to meet his eyes. "We need to stop this ship, now," he says firmly, trying to ignore the shock of energy caused by his Light and Sonic's Dark making contact.

" _THREE MINUTES UNTIL SELF DESTRUCTION."_

The darkened hedgehog's eyes narrow, but he calms down at least enough to listen. Shadow lets out a sigh, letting go of his arm.

"If we use Chaos Control, we can get this ship somewhere away from the city," the Ultimate Lifeform offers. "Most likely to the ocean."

Dark's frown deepens, but he nods and looks away. Shadow chalks that up as a victory. "The Sapphire Sea. Follow my energy."

Sonic doesn't nod, but just watches Shadow turn and follows quietly. The golden hedgehog turns back to make sure the hero hadn't gone off, especially with how unpredictable this form was. It was stronger than their Super forms, probably even combined, so it would help immensely. He just hoped this control Sonic had on it would be enough to not kill them or anyone else.

Standing at the peak of the ship, they see how fast the whole thing is moving to the ground, before turning and facing each other. "Are you ready?" the golden of the two asks, raising a brow at the darker hedgehog. Sonic doesn't answer, probably trying to focus his control on keeping sane. Instead he takes a step back to give them both room, and Shadow nods.

"Alright then," he starts, the two of them building up their energy between them.

" _Chaos-!"_

* * *

_Three Months Later_

Rouge puts a hand on her right hip and smirks, turning the light on with her other hand.  _Couldn't those two be any quieter?_  she thinks to herself as she grabs the bag of groceries off the ground and kicks the front door shut behind her. "It's a good thing I'm looking out for them," she hums to herself, hearing a loud thud on the upstairs floor, followed by a curse and cry. What did she expect, though? They hated each other, so it wasn't like this was entirely fun to them.

Well, that's what they told themselves, at least.

Walking into the kitchen behind the bar and putting the bag on the island counter, she makes herself useful by putting the food away, her ears flicking at the noises upstairs. Another bang and thud sounded right after each other, and she wonders if she should have gotten a first aid kit while she was out…

They seriously needed to get their own place, though, she thought as well. They couldn't keep doing this in her club, especially if she needed those rooms up there for her guests. Even after yelling at the two for breaking a mirror and dresser and  _bed,_ as well as leaving blood stains on the nice, white carpet, they still had a problem keeping their messes contained. At least they paid her back with her very own Chaos Emerald. She couldn't decline it, but it didn't help clean up the mess, or pay for the repairs.

This was the only place they could do this, though. Mobotropolis wasn't exactly private, especially for those two, and they couldn't risk having anyone and everyone find out their secret. They needed a cabin, or something in the woods, she thought. Something far away from everyone that only they could go to.

Although, she did enjoy the situation, so she couldn't complain  _too_ much.

It goes quiet for a minute or two, before she stops and waits, counting down inwardly as she waiting for the next faze to go through. Sure enough, yelling was soon heard between the two, mixed with curses and insults that could traumatize a person. Doors slamming and more yelling followed, along with angry footsteps and such. The ivory bat can only sigh and shake her head, leaning against the counter as she crossed her arms and waited.

Sure enough, one of the two culprits finally made his way downstairs, soaking wet from most likely a shower. He walks in the kitchen, sees her, glares, then makes his way to the fridge and pulls out a water. Rouge finally frowns.

"Blue," she starts, watching the hedgehog down the entire bottle and toss it in the trash on the other side of the room. He ignores her, opening the fridge again and grabbing an apple. "Sonic," she says, this time louder and snappier, causing him to finally turn his emerald eyes to her. "Thank you," she smiles, walking over to stand in front of him. He leans back, giving her an uncomfortable look as he bites into his apple, watching her look over him for any serious injuries. There's a large bruise on his side, just showing through the fawn fur on his stomach, and cuts and scrapes littering him from head to toe. She can only imagine what the other hedgehog looks like.

"You guys have got to stop being so violent with each other," she comments, walking around him in a circle. His eyes narrow as he takes another bite of his fruit, his ears flicking back as she stands behind him. His tail was lowered and his quills were raised sharply, his foot tapping irritably against the tiled floor. "I mean it, Blue. This isn't healthy for either of you."

His patience seems to snap then, and he walks forward away from her, dropping the rest of his apple in the trash and heading out the door, jumping over the bar and towards the front door. She watches him in the doorway leave, slamming the door shut behind him.

She stands there for a minute, turning to look over at the stairs, thinking over the situation for a minute. Making up her mind, she heads to the stairs, going up to the room she knew the two had been in.

Pushing the slightly ajar door open all the way, she steps in to assess the damage. Not much, both surprisingly and nicely. Her target sat on the floor by the bed, lifting his stare from the floor to her, his ruby eyes narrowing sharply.

"I'm not going away, so don't even say it," she says, walking in to sit next to him. He looks away from her, and she sighs, reaching for his hand to grab it, running her fingers through the black fur. "Hon, you two have got to figure something out. Hating each other isn't helping either of you at all."

He pulls his hand away, scowling and not meeting her gaze. "You should mind your own business."

She frowns at him. "Shadow, this is my business. You're in my home, my  _work_ , with me being the only one that knows about this, so yes, it is my business." She stops to move in front of him, giving him a chiding look. "Both you and Blue don't deserve this. I know you guys don't hate each other as much as you both pretend to, if at all. You guys need to suck up your pride and work something out, because you really don't have a choice here."

Shadow's brows furrow and his ears flick down as he looks at the far wall away from her. She can tell he was thinking, but his stubborn self was arguing with her and himself.

"You know I'm right," she adds.

He looks away again, not saying anything. She waits, hoping he would at least take her words into consideration. When nothing happens, she sighs. "Shadow, you've read the books, you've read the scrolls. Once two people have bonded their energy, they're bonded for life, together, and have no say or choice in the matter. You and Sonic are the only two Chaos beings left on the entire planet. His Dark connected with your Light. Look at all of the signs, hon. This happened for a reason. I may not be a specialist in Chaos, but I've done the research, you've done the research, he's done the research, and we all know that you two are stuck together, no matter what, forever, so the sooner you both grow up and deal with it, the sooner my club can stay together in one piece, and you two can live happily ever after."

He scoffs and stands up, grabbing his glove off the nightstand and skates off the floor. She watches him head to the bathroom and slam the door shut, rattling the picture frames on the walls.

She huffs out air through her nose in exhaustion, shaking her head.

"Hedgehogs," she huffs, standing up, turning to storm out of the room. "Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn, stubborn…"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter One - Where it Begins**

A flash of emerald green erupted on the sandy beach, dropping two hedgehogs with a spray of sand and water. Shadow pushed himself up to his knees, gawking at the still-midnight blue hedgehog only a few feet away from him. How was that possible? Sonic should have lost all of his dark form with that large of a Chaos Control.

Sonic felt as if his body was on fire. What had even happened? His vision was foggy and dark, and every time he opened his eyes he was blinded by an intense light. He holds his face as his ears pick up a strange sound, and he realizes that sound was his own groan. Everything hurt, and the more conscious he got the more he believed it was his own Chaos Energy hurting him.

He didn't feel right.

"Faker," he hears in his right ear and he jumps, only to be grabbed by his arm in a tight grip. "Faker, snap out of it. Wake up."

The hand that was holding on to his arm was sending a strange, warm, pleasant tingling through him that eased the pain his body was going through. He leans towards whatever it is and buries his face in something soft, wrapping his arms around the thing that was curing his pain.

Shadow's eyes widened and he stumbled back as Sonic curled into him, hugging him as if his life depended on it. The cobalt hero lets out another groan, this one not sounding as painful as the last one did.

"What the heck are you…?" the Ultimate Lifeform growls under his breath, before grabbing his counterpart by the shoulders and shaking him roughly. "Faker! Wake  _up!"_

His comfort was destroyed the moment something started shaking him, and he whined at the pain that came rushing back to him. He pushes himself away from whatever it was, falling onto the sandy ground and laying there, each breath he took forced from him.

It hurt, everywhere.

Shadow just stared at the blue mess that was Sonic on the ground, wondering if something was  _actually_ wrong with him. His fur was flickering between cobalt and midnight blue, and his eyes were half-lidded with his emerald irises flickering in and out of sight. He was shaking and soft whines could be heard with each exhale of air, but there was no sign of him getting any better.

Shit, something  _was_ wrong with him, Shadow thinks bitterly. Of course something had to go wrong. Walking over, fighting the limp in his step, he kneels down next to his rival and shakes him -this time more gently- by the shoulder. Again, Sonic seemed drawn to him and reached up a hand to grab his arm, whining again as if he needed help.

He had to get him back, he thinks with a frown. With Sonic's energy the way it was, however, and his own energy drained significantly low, Chaos Control was out of the question. He was going to have to run back, and that was going to take too long.

His own home wasn't too far from here. If he took Sonic there they could at least rest enough for him to get them back to whatever was left of New Mobotropolis, contact someone and explain their situation, and see what happened while they were gone.

That was unfortunately the best route here. He really had wanted to keep his small home (it could even be considered a cabin) private, but he couldn't just leave Sonic here on the beach like this (...he actually could but…something was preventing him from doing just that).

"Dammit," he curses, leaning over to get an arm under Sonic's legs, and the other under his back to lift him up. Surprisingly, Sonic was extremely light, feeling almost like a bag of feathers in his arms. Sonic groaned with the movement and leaned his head into the biohog's white chest, wrapping one of his arms around the dark hedgehog and letting out a soft sigh.

 _Something_ was  _very_ wrong with Sonic, he noted with a roll of his eyes. He turns and takes in a deep breath, before skating off in the direction of where he knew where his house was. He didn't even have to balance himself like he usually does while carrying someone like Rouge, because Sonic didn't weigh a thing. He added it to his list of things he was honestly curious about the speed demon. He himself was created to be the Ultimate Lifeform, yet Sonic was born with the abilities no mortal mobian should even have.

' _Not to mention his ability to use Dark Chaos Energy;'_ something Shadow has tried to do and failed to many times before.

His broken communicator makes a horrible buzzing sound that makes him flatten his ears as he enters the woods. He needed to find his spare one; someone was obviously trying to contact him. Sonic's was long gone, probably in the ocean. Their gloves and socks were torn up as well, along with the many cuts and bruises they had sticking parts of their fur up in odd spots. He could feel his energy trying to heal him but failing miserably. He might even have to take his inhibitors off if he didn't start regenerating soon…

He makes it to his home within ten minutes. Kicking the door open, he lets it swing closed behind him as he carries his unwanted and unconscious guest throughout the small living room area, down a small hallway and into a decently sized bedroom. He would have to destroy this house after they left. Like hell if he was letting Sonic of all people know where he lived…

He lays Sonic down on the bed and goes to search for his communicator, but is caught when Sonic grips a tight hold on him and doesn't let go.

Seriously, what was the deal with him? The striped hedgehog's eyes narrow, a scowl forming on his muzzle. "Knock it off, Faker," he huffs, prying the hero's hands off of him, before turning to begin his search. Sonic whined but didn't do much else, his dark blue aura still floating around him from his dark form.

Leaving the room to check in the kitchen, he finds his communicator there, sitting on one of the counters right next to the sink. He picks it up and turns it on, before dialing Rouge's number and waiting for her to answer.

" _Shadow? About time you picked up,"_ Rouge huffs as her face appears on screen, looking rattled.  _"Where are you guys? Are you okay?"_

"I'm fine, but something's wrong with him," Shadow answers, watching as a red echidna joined Rouge on screen.

" _What do you mean something's wrong with him?"_ Knuckles asks in a gruff, worried voice. Even Rouge looks heavily concerned, and Shadow suddenly -not sure why- feels a little guilty about being so rough with the blue hero.

"He's in and out of his dark form, is being super clingy, and is only semi-conscious," he explains, not sure what else to say. "He's alive, but incoherent."

" _Where are you?"_ Rouge asks, a question Shadow was trying to avoid.

"Ten miles northwest of the Sapphire Sea," he says, not giving anymore context.

" _Shit, that's too far,"_ Knuckles curses, crossing his arms.  _"Something's obviously wrong with his energy. Do you still have the Chaos Emeralds?"_

He inwardly flinched. No, he didn't know how to keep them together after they were used. Sonic could do it, but he said it wasn't good for the emeralds. That they needed to separate after they all came together to prevent any issues with their energies.

He didn't have even  _one_.

"No," he replies almost hesitantly, to which Knuckles curses again and Rouge groans in exasperation. "What else am I supposed to do until I get him back there?" he asks, irritation evident in his tone.

" _Just keep a close eye on him,"_ Knuckles huffs.  _"See if you can't try to balance his energy with your own. If it works, it's most likely because he's low on positive energy."_

"I'll see what I can do, and be there within six hours," he sighs, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

" _Let us know when you're on your way,"_ Rouge speaks up.  _"We have a huge mess over here to deal with, so whenever you feel like joining in you're more than welcome to."_

"Whatever," is the last thing Shadow says before hanging up the call, throwing the communicator back on the counter where he found it.

Screw Eggman, screw the Chaos Emeralds, screw Sonic's dumb as-

He left Sonic alone for too long. He leaves the kitchen and heads back to the room, stopping abruptly when he sees that the hero's dark aura had grown considerably since he left, and Sonic was curled up on his side, whimpering and trembling like a dying kitten.

He walks over and rests a hand on the hedgehog's arm, nearly jolting from the intensity of his Dark Chaos Energy. Sonic whines again and turns to curl into him again, and Shadow does what Knuckles had said and tries to feed him some positive energy. The moment he did, however, Sonic made a most interesting noise.

It was a mix between a purr, a whine, and a moan, and suddenly Sonic was ten times more clingy than he had been before, reaching for Shadow and trying to pull him closer. Shadow nearly trips and falls onto the bed, sitting on the edge of it as Sonic tried to nuzzle into him. The hero's face was a light pink color, and his dark aura was fading quickly.

Was...that supposed to happen?!

He didn't know, and at that point he didn't care. He also didn't understand why that... _noise_ Sonic made was eating at his curiosity, or why he had the slightest urge to hear it again. There was also some odd, yet pleasing feeling creeping up his hand and arm that held on to Sonic, and it takes him a moment to realize that, as he's giving Sonic his positive energy, Sonic was trading it off with his negative.

Again, was this supposed to be happening? He didn't know. He only knew what he was taught about Chaos Energy, and that was all mostly for killing or for healing injuries. Nothing about what was happening made sense to him.

He's suddenly  _tired,_ unbelievably so, and has to stop himself from falling over and sleeping right next to his seemingly broken rival. It ends up happening anyway, after a few more minutes of fighting it, and Sonic's energy just felt so nice...and before he knew it, he was cuddling with the hero he claimed to hate so much.

* * *

When he woke up, multiple things occurred to him at once.

Firstly, the fact that he was in a bed,  _cuddling_ with a sleeping Sonic.

Secondly, his Chaos Energy, was setting his body on  _fire._

It wasn't a burning fire, but it was intense, and he jolted up as it traveled through his entire body. He looks down at Sonic and sees the hedgehog's fur is still navy blue, but he seems calm and doesn't have an aura. He at least seems normal, well...besides the fact that his muzzle was stained pink for some reason.

His own face felt hot and he felt like it was hard to breathe, like his adrenaline was on full blast and he was in a metal box on a hot, summer day. He shakes the hedgehog next to him, jumping from the contact he made while doing it.

"Faker, wake up!" he snaps, and thankfully Sonic's eyes opened, and the blue hero jumped up as well.

"Wha-?! What happened?" he looks over at Shadow with wide eyes, realizing they were in a bed...for some reason  _together,_ and that Shadow's face was beat red, and that he himself felt...wrong. Something was wrong here…

Then his body suddenly felt as if it was going to explode, as Chaos Energy rushed through it.

He shudders, holding himself as his body started to tremble. He felt  _hot,_ unbearably so, and he shakes his head, trying to make sense of it.

"What h-happened?" he asks again, glaring at the black and red hedgehog who was just staring at him blankly.

"We...used Chaos Control," Shadow starts, finding it hard to talk. "You were stuck in between your normal and dark form, and we were too far from Mobotropolis to get help. I took you to my house, and tried to balance your energy with my own, but it didn't seem to have worked…"

Sonic frowns, trying to replay the memory over in his head. His dark form? He transformed?

"I went Dark?" he asks quietly, almost meekly, and Shadow rolls his eyes.

"Yes, you idiot. Nearly crushed the city as you were destroying the ships. We had to get them all out of there before everyone was killed." He watches Sonic flinch, looking down with guilt written all over his face. He feels slightly bad for berating him, and sighs. "The city is fine, as is everyone, but the doctor escaped and we lost the Chaos Emeralds."

Sonic nods, looking slightly relieved. "G-Good… J-Just...why does my energy feel like this?"

Shadow frowned, feeling it too. "I don't know, my energy is screwed up as well. Something must have happened when we used Chaos Control." He looks away, thinking of whatever could have caused it to happen. "It's possible that it was because you were in a negative form, while I was using a positive."

Sonic's eyes widen, and he looks startled about something. "We...oh no…" he suddenly tries to get up, but yelps as he nearly collapses on the ground. Shadow stares, confused as to what the hedgehog was suddenly so worried about.

"What?" he asks sharply, scowling. "What's wrong with our energy?"

"I-I need to check something!" Sonic exclaims, trying to balance himself. "Just...Just stay like...really far away from me until I figure it out!"

Why was he panicking? The striped hedgehog gets up as Sonic stumbles over to the door, injuries and all, watching him attempt to make it down the hallway.

"Wait a minute," Shadow walks over, grabbing the hero's arm. They both jumped at the energy shock, Sonic yelping and trying to pull away. The action causes the two of them to trip on each other, falling to the floor with Shadow pinning the younger hedgehog down. They both stare, wide eyed at each other, before Sonic is in full blown freaked out mode.

"Get  _off!_ I told you to stay away from me!"

"What do you know?!" Shadow yells back, not moving an inch. It was weird...Sonic usually had more strength than this. Was he  _that_ injured? Why wasn't he fighting back?

" _I said get off!"_ the hero exclaims, face redder than before. "I don't know anything for sure!"

"You know  _enough_ ," Shadow growled. " _What do you know?!"_

" _Just get off of me!"_

Dark Chaos was erupting from Sonic and his aura was back now, but every time his energy would let out a burst, so would Shadow's. Cobalt blue and golden yellow energy was clashing together, making a bright, blazing green that would put the Master Emerald to shame. Sonic looked like he was honestly trying to fight Shadow off of him, but it was as if his strength was weakened, as if he wasn't trying at  _all_.

"I'll get off when you tell me what you know," the streaked hedgehog huffs. "Now  _talk!"_

Sonic is gritting his teeth, scowling up at Shadow as if he was considering killing him. The Ultimate Lifeform really wondered if it was a good idea to challenge Sonic's dark form, but he wasn't going to stop until he had answers.

They glare intensely at each other for a moment, green eyes clashing against red, before Sonic turns his head away, face still red, and closes his eyes.

"I-I don't know e-everything, but...if you and I used Chaos Control at the same time….and I was using...dark energy and you were using light...then...there's a good chance our energy…" he trails off, taking in a deep breath. "...our energy bonded."

"What the hell does that mean?" Shadow frowns, watching the way Sonic's ears pinned back and he tensed.

"I...only read so much...It's explained on one of the scrolls on Angel Island...Knuckles has a bunch of them, but...one person's Dark Energy can bond with one person's Light Energy if they're evenly matched, and used at the same time. It bonds the two people together so they become dependent on each other, and they have to share Chaos Energy."

It hits him.

Professor Gerald told him about this, showed him a scroll exactly like the one Sonic was talking about…

Chaos Born were either Dark or Light, despite Gerald's attempt to make Shadow both, and would use either or when it came to energy. The fact that Sonic was both raised many questions, but his natural energy was Dark. It's said that in order to make sure balance was in place between the Chaos Born, two people, one of Dark and one of Light, would be bonded by what their energy decides and would be tied together forever, and by together...it meant mates.

If he and Sonic were bonded…

...that meant…

"No," he states, getting up and taking a step back, watching Sonic stand up. "Absolutely not," he states, crossing his arms. "I know what you're talking about. There has to be a way to fix it. I'm not going to be mates with you. I refuse."

"You...You think  _I_  want this?!" Sonic yells, quills bristling and threatening to stand up. "Do you have any idea what this means for  _me_? Dark Chaos Born are supposed to be submissive because our energy is stronger than yours. You think I want to submit to  _you?!"_

Shadow glares at him, point taken. This would be worse for Sonic than him, but…

"You're the idiot that lost control of your energy," he snaps, "and I had to fix it! Maybe you should have listened to me instead of-!"

"Listen to you?!" Sonic interrupts. "You were going to  _abandon_ the city! I didn't know where Tails was, and I knew that if we didn't do something we were all going to lose! What else could we have done?!"

"Leave the damn city!" Shadow exclaims, throwing his arms up.

"And everyone in the underground shelter?!" Sonic yells back. "He would have killed them before chasing after us!"

Sonic really wasn't at fault here, but he'd be damned before he was forced to be mates with him.

"Look," Sonic huffs, rubbing his temples to fight the headache forming, "I'll go to Angel Island and go through all the scrolls and try to find a way to fix this before...before we have to do  _anything…_ " he flushes and looks away, not wanting to even think about- "I'm sure there's something we can do."

"Find it, then," Shadow snarls. He wished he remembered everything Gerald taught him. At the time it didn't seem important to him. Now he regretted not paying attention…

Sonic turns his head to glare at him again, Dark Energy swirling around him. "You can do some research too,  _prick_ , this is your problem just as much as it is mine."

"It wouldn't be if not for you," Shadow snaps back.

Sonic rolls his eyes and turns away. "Yeah, sure  _asshole_. I'm leaving."

"Get the hell out, then," Shadow turns and heads back into his room, slamming the door shut.

A sonic boom erupts in the small house, followed by the sound of glass and windows shattering, the whole place threatening to shake apart, and he suddenly wants to wring the hedgehog's neck.

Oh well, he was going to destroy this place, anyway.

He walks over and sits on the edge of his bed, holding his head and staring down at the floor.

His energy felt like it was going to burn him alive…

...and he couldn't deny how much he enjoyed the way Sonic looked, flushed and pinned beneath him.

* * *

Rouge hands the scroll Sonic gave her over to Shadow, who took it and read the line that was highlighted.

They were screwed.

Getting Rouge involved was an accident. She heard them fighting in the cave Knuckles kept all the island's documents in, and decided to join in. To hear that the two rival's were supposed to be mates was a  _trip_ for her, and she was enjoying every second of the ride that followed.

"There's no way to undo the bond," Sonic said tiredly, rubbing his eyes. He hadn't slept in days, reading through all of the texts twice and then three times, practically memorizing it in hopes he skipped something.

Shadow throws the paper down with a muttered curse, while Rouge shrugs.

"Well, they do say everything happens for a reason," she offered, earning two dark glares in return. She goes on, ignoring them. "It says your energy will only bond if Chaos deems it fit to, and you're both bonded, so…"

"This is stupid," Sonic huffs, leaning back against the rock on the ground behind him. "It says they used Chaos Bonds to control Dark Chaos Beings, which is how the Great War started. They were turning us into slaves because they could control us."

"...and if Shadow tries to do that, I'm sure Knuckles and a few others would enjoy killing him as much as I would, darling," Rouge says sincerely, making Shadow scowl and Sonic give her a questioning look. If there was one thing Rouge hated more than anything, it was people abusing their mates and taking advantage over them. Working in a popular club showed her that it happens a lot, and it sickened her.

"You're not going to tell anyone," Sonic says in a warning tone. "I don't care who it is, you're not telling them."

She puts her hands up innocently, smiling sweetly at him. "I won't unless I have permission from you personally, Big Blue. Cross my heart."

He gives her a suspicious look but accepts it, looking back down at the papers on the floor.

There was nothing that could be done.

Sonic's situation was worse than Shadow's, with him being the Dark Chaos in the 'relationship.' Dark Chaos Born were naturally submissive, because they were stronger than Light Chaos Born. To make sure they didn't get out of hand, Chaos made it so Dark beings would automatically submit in a relationship. Once their mate's Chaos Energy contacted their's, they would lose their strength and ability to fight them off, so they were completely vulnerable. They couldn't say no if the Light being pinned them down. They couldn't fight them or do anything against them.

Sonic would have to submit to Shadow.

The only way to control each other's energy once a bond is made, was to  _mate_. The thought of submitting to Shadow, letting him...do  _that_ to him…made Sonic want to implode on himself. It was such a knife to his ego, and it would mean that no matter what, Shadow could always overpower him.

It wasn't fair, he had thought bitterly. The whole reason the Chaos Born were wiped out was because of the Light beings taking advantage over the Dark and turning them into slaves. They could sell them to other Light beings, and put new bonds on them, and the Dark beings had no power to stop it. Chaos grew insanely upset about the Light's abusing their power, so it wiped them all out, almost exactly what it did to the echidnas that fought amongst each other.

Like Knuckles, Sonic had been the last of his kind, and was safe from the possibility of ever having to worry about a Light being.

Then Shadow shows up.

...and now  _this_.

He couldn't bare the thought of mating with Shadow. Hell, the Mating Season would start the first time they did...and then it lasted for six months before they would get a year of rest, but even then in that year they would have to mate to keep their energy under control, and that was a lot of time that he would be…

His face could not feel any hotter. This was just a nightmare.

They could try to go as long as they could without mating. Try to control their energy. Maybe he could find some inhibitors for himself, to help with the pain of his energy constantly like this. It hurt, and hurt worse every day. It would hurt until he gave in and…

Shaking his head, and sighs and pushes himself up.

"I'm going home, and I'm going to bed, and I'm going to stay as far away from you as possible," he says, not even looking at Shadow. "I see you and I'm going to try and kill you."

To hear Sonic threaten someone's life… Both Rouge and Shadow were surprised, as they watched Sonic leave the cave without another word.

They exchange looks, and as Shadow scowls, Rouge can't help but chuckle, motioning towards the papers on the floor.

"We should take all these with us, just in case."

* * *

It lasted a few more weeks. Mobotropolis was being built up, so Sonic was busy there. Shadow distracted himself with missions from G.U.N., and the two stayed separated as long as they could.

Then it started with dreams, and pains, and then Sonic was snapping on everyone that even glimpsed at him, and Shadow was ready to start killing everyone around him. It wasn't until Sonic realized people were starting to notice his change, and Rouge yelled at Shadow enough, that the two knew they had to meet up within the next few days. Sonic showed up at Club Rouge, and the bat herself told him Shadow was upstairs in one of the spare rooms.

From that point on, things just got chaotic.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings apply for this chapter.

**Chapter Two - Not Like This**

Shadow looks up at the blue hedgehog standing in his doorway as he puts his inhibitors on, frowning. "I thought you didn't want to see me."

Sonic huffs, face red and ears pinned back. "I don't, but I need to borrow those."

Shadow raises a brow, before he realizes Sonic is talking about his inhibitors. So the hedgehog thought he could contain his energy like that? It was possible, if only slightly. Shadow had to admit he was grateful for the rings, because every time he took them off to shower or change, his energy would burn him alive and he would instantly think of Sonic.

Lately it's been getting worse, however. Despite how strong his rings were, they could only inhibit so much. He was starting to feel the energy even with them on, and his moods would get crankier than normal because of it.

He couldn't imagine living without them, and as his eyes swept over the navy colored hedgehog in his door, he realized Sonic must be in agonizing pain at the moment, especially since his energy was stronger than his own.

"I'm not giving them to you," Shadow looks away. Sonic rolls his eyes and crosses his arms.

"I'm not going to  _keep_ them. I just want to give them to Tails so he can make another set."

Shadow scoffs. "I don't care. I'm not giving them to you."

"Are you kidding me? I'm the one that held on to them for you when you  _died_ in space. You wouldn't even have them if not for me," Sonic glares at him, unbelieving. Shadow just had to make his life even worse, didn't he?

The black and red hedgehog doesn't seem to care, still, as he slips his skates on. "Like that matters to me." He puts on his communicator and walks up to the hero in his door, watching Sonic's eyes widen and his face darken. He could feel the other's energy, stronger than ever, and he felt his own face heat up with the prospect of just pinning Sonic against the wall and taking care of their problem himself.

Sonic doesn't move, despite leaning back on his feet, glaring stubbornly at his counterpart.

"I have work to do," Shadow starts in a low tone, "so if you don't get the hell out of my way, I'll just take you right here."

Sonic's pupils shrunk considerably after that, his quills bristling and the red on his face moving up to his pinned-back ears. He felt a heat travel through his body, and he suppressed a shudder at what that exactly meant.

"I'll give them back by the end of today," he tries, hoping Shadow wouldn't carry out his threat. Those red eyes narrowed back at him, and it took everything in his power to stand his ground. "It won't be for long, I  _swear_. Then we can continue staying as far away from each other as possible, because I certainly don't like having to even be here right now."

He thought when Shadow raised his arms that he was going to do the unthinkable, but to his surprise the biohog took off the rings and threw them at him, growling as he spoke.

"I want them back by midnight, that's it. If I don't have them by then, I'm killing you."

Then he's being shoved out of the way, and Shadow is storming down the hallway, out of sight as he goes down the stairs.

That...could have been much, much worse…

* * *

"You...want me to make you inhibitors?"

Sonic had a feeling he was going to have to lie his way around  _why_ he needed inhibitors. It shouldn't be too hard, considering everyone was looking at him funny because his fur was significantly darker than usual.

"I'm having a hard time with my energy," Sonic explains, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably. Tails exchanges looks with Nicole, who studied him carefully.

"Is that why you've been acting and...looking different for the past couple of weeks?" his little brother asks, names sakes swishing curiously behind him. Sonic sighs, nodding.

"Yeah, I don't know what it is. Ever since the battle I just can't control my Dark Energy. I don't know what to do and I don't want to go Dark again…"

"Why didn't you say something sooner?" Nicole says chidingly. "We could have helped you sooner."

"I…" Sonic crosses his arms, not sure what to say.  _'Because I was dealing with the fact that I'm going to have to eventually get screwed_ literally  _by my rival?'_

"I should have figured it out sooner," Tails speaks up, saving him from answering. "Knuckles said something was wrong after he and Shadow used Chaos Control. You seemed fine when you got back, though."

"I was," he shrugged, trying to play along, "but now it's like I just can't control it at all."

"Sonic," speaks up a voice from behind them, and they turn to see Uncle Chuck and Rotor standing there in the doorway to the lab. "I have a theory I've been working on about you," the older of the two say, and Sonic had to keep calm, because it couldn't  _possibly_ be that he figured out what was going on…

"What's that?" his voice almost cracked. Almost.

"I started thinking on it before that last battle, back when Eggman was still our prisoner," Chuck explained, and Sonic felt slightly relieved. "One of the times I spoke with him, he said something rather interesting." He stands beside his nephew, noticing that the hero was now slightly taller than him. "He said something about you being the 'embodiment of Chaos.'"

"What does that mean?" Sonic frowned, as both Tails and Nicole's eyes lit up.

"It means that you are a physical form of Chaos," Chuck explains, frowning, "and it would make sense considering a few factors."

"You mean to say, Sonic could be made entirely out of Chaos Energy?" Nicole asks, eyes darting between both hedgehogs. Sonic blinks, taken aback.

"I'm what?"

"I'd have to run a few tests to be sure," Chuck says, "it would take some time to set up, but it's something we should look into. Sonny, there's a chance you're not completely mobian anymore. You have so much Chaos Energy, and it's only growing stronger, that in so many years, you could be completely made out of energy. You wouldn't even take injuries…" He takes a second to finish, watching the expression on his nephew's face go from surprised to shocked. "You would be immortal."

He'd be…

It might be because he hadn't eaten that day, or the information really shocked him, but he suddenly felt lightheaded, and nearly fell backwards if Rotor hadn't been standing there to catch him.

"Sonic?" Tails exclaims, worry filling the room as the hero nearly fainted.

"I wouldn't…" Sonic mumbles, holding the side of his head as Rotor supported him.

"Easy, buddy, don't think too much of it," the purple walrus says, while Chuck takes a damp rag Nicole gave him and wipes the Blue Blur's forehead with it.

"I know it's a lot to take in, Sonny, but yes, you wouldn't die. You wouldn't age, you would be living, breathing Chaos Energy. I'm not sure why you're like this, or if this is even true, yet, but if there is a way to stop this, if...you want to stop this, I need to do some tests and it needs to be done soon."

Sonic shakes his head, trying to stand up on his own, pushing his uncle away. "I need to...I need to think about this…" he mumbles, holding the side of his head. He would live forever…immortal…

That's why…!

Shadow was immortal. Shadow had a lot of Chaos Energy. Shadow didn't age. Shadow would never…

He bonded with Shadow because they were exactly alike.

They were both immortal, both powerful Chaos Born that would never die…

Oh, this was bad…

If he didn't get this fixed, or didn't find a way to fix this, he would be stuck with Shadow forever...but…

What if they found a way to stop this? Would the bond break between them? It was possible, but he wouldn't know for sure.

To be immortal, he would never have to worry about dying in battle, he would be able to live and protect Mobius as long as he wanted. He could better protect his friends, and not have to worry about what could happen…

...but he would never die. His friends would all grow old and eventually pass, and he would be left alone…

...left alone with  _Shadow_ , of all people…

"Take as much time as you need, Sonny," Chuck says softly. "I know it's a big decision, but I'm sure you will be fine for a couple more years. Take the time to think on it. We can do the tests whenever you're ready."

"I'll make those inhibitors," Tails said, holding them up with an encouraging smile. "You said you need them by tonight?"

Sonic nods, finding it hard to talk.

"Go eat, rest, and run, Sonic," Chuck smiles at him. "You look like you need to."

"Y-Yeah," he mumbles, turning away. He ran out quickly, his mind swirling.

It was just one thing after the other…

* * *

Rouge kept staring at him, but the expression on her face was unreadable.

It was starting to get annoying.

"What is your problem?" he finally asks, glaring over at her. Her mouth pulls into a thin line, and she shakes her head.

"I'm worried about Blue," she admits. "Why are you being so harsh with him? He doesn't deserve it."

"It's none of your concern," he looks away, scowling.

"I can't help what I'm concerned about, sunshine," she frowns. "Seeing you both like this worries me. You guys were getting along so well just before…"

He tisks and looks out the window of the helicopter they were in, watching as they flew out of the city. G.U.N. was sending them to Adabat, where they would be investigating an underwater base the doctor supposedly had there. There was a chance of scoring a Chaos Emerald, so all three members of Team Dark were shipped out immediately. They would be meeting Omega at the rendezvous point.

"You only worry about things that will benefit you," he says snappily. "So I don't want to hear anything you have to say about the matter."

"Ow, the edge," she mutters under her breath, looking out her own window with narrowed eyes. "You're lucky I love you like family, otherwise I would have left you by your emo-self."

He ignores her, tuning out all the noises around him. His energy was burning and he felt his patience run thin. Sonic better have those inhibitors back on time, otherwise he was going to lose his shit. He'd take the hedgehog if he didn't get those back on time, so the faker had better be quick.

He feels a harsh tap on his shoulder and looks up with blazing ruby eyes, earning a dark glare from Rouge in return. "We're nearing the drop zone,  _sunshine,_ get ready."

* * *

He ate like he was told, then packed a bookbag filled with texts from Angel Island and left the rebuilding city of Mobotropolis, heading to find a nice, quiet place to read by himself.

He finds a field and a nice tree to sit under, going through the pages of old text, hoping to get new information. He shoved the thought of him being immortal to the back of his head, focusing on the problem at hand. Shadow was too big of an issue to worry about anything else. He'd deal with his own issues once this one was solved.

He reads what he can from the faded words, learning more about the Great War and how it started. Apparently the old Queen of Mobius learned that she could control her King's Dark Chaos Energy, and was keeping him locked up in her room, torturing him and doing whatever she wanted with him. When word came out about it, a fight ensued, and the Chaos Born were divided. Laws came down that Light Chaos Born could then own Dark Chaos Born, and slavery began. They would put bonds on the Dark Chaos beings and sell them to each other, creating new bonds when they were sold to new masters. They could be bonded by only one person at a time, but it seemed that bond could change if they were taken by a new Light being.

A rebellion started to form after so many years, made up of both Dark Chaos and Light Chaos Born who were disgusted and tired of the slavery. They began attacking cities and saving the slaves, and eventually war broke out.

The war lasted for one hundred years. The royal family continued down the family line, until Chaos itself grew tired of it all and just wiped them all out. Normal blood mobians took over Mobius, then, with only a tiny fragment of Chaos Energy in each of them from their ancestors.

Sonic didn't understand why he was the way he was. It wasn't like his own parents were Chaos Born. Then again, every time he brought it up they would always fidget and turn away from him, as if they knew something he didn't. Maybe he should talk to them about it...or even Chuck. They were hiding  _something_ from him. Why would after hundreds of years a random Chaos being would be born like that? It didn't add up to him.

He finds a page describing the bond between a Dark and Light being, and he sits up. This was what he was looking for!

' _Once a bond has been created,'_ he reads to himself,  _'it cannot be destroyed. Even if a new bond is created between another Chaos Born, the Chaos Energy within that Dark Born will forever remember the signature of the one they were bonded with. That bond will be there forever, running through their Chaos Energy no matter what is done. It is read like DNA, and cannot be taken out.'_

That...was bad news. So...there really was no way to get rid of his bond with Shadow? It would be there forever? What if...what if he went with the process of removing his immortality? Would he lose the bond that way? Could it be possible?

' _A bond is created to connect two Chaos Born permanently for as long as they both live. It was created to be a sacred arrangement to balance both Light and Dark Chaos between two beings who fell in love. Once the Light Born realized they could use it to control Dark Born, it became a weapon._

' _A bond can be formed in multiple different ways. If two use their opposite energies together for the same purpose, at the same time, it automatically bonds them so the energy can be used together…'_

"I'm such an idiot…" he mutters, closing his eyes. If he hadn't been in his Dark form when they used Chaos Control, this wouldn't have happened in the first place. He skips ahead, praying there was at least  _some_ hope for him.

' _If a bond is created unwillingly, there is yet nothing that can be done to undo it. If the bond is not followed through, both Chaos Born will suffer extreme attacks from their own energy. Once they are bonded, they must rely on sharing energy with each other, or they will suffer great pain in consequence.'_

Well, he already knew  _that_ one, but he was sure it wasn't as bad as it was going to get.

' _The longer the two Chaos Born go without following their bond, the more pain it will cause. There have been records of Chaos Born losing their sanity, their abilities to function, and even losing their lives over refusing to following a bond. It is very important the bond is followed once created.'_

Of course, he thinks bitterly.

' _A bond is followed through by the two Chaos Born performing acts of intimacy and sex.'_

His face reddens to the color of his shoes, and he bites his lip as he continues reading.

' _The first act of intimacy will start the Mating Season of the two Chaos Born, which lasts up to six or seven months of time. The spontaneousness of the events, will defer by the strength of their combined Chaos Energy. Once the Mating Season has passed, they are given a year before the next season takes place. Throughout this year, depending on the strength of their combined energy, acts of intimacy may have to take place throughout to keep stability of their energy.'_

Well, that was just great. If Shadow really was the Ultimate Lifeform, and Sonic really was the embodiment of Chaos, then their energy together was going to be insane. He shuddered as he continued reading.

' _Once the first act of intimacy has taken place, the next acts take place when the Dark Chaos Born develops a heat. A heat prepares the Dark Chaos Born for the next act of intimacy, including…'_

"Nope!" he exclaims weakly, putting the paper aside and taking in a deep breath, face hot and body uncomfortable. He closes his eyes, ears bent backwards.

He wanted to scream.

He wanted to cry.

He wanted to let his energy take him on a killing spree.

This…

This wasn't  _fair._

Why on Mobius did this have to happen to  _him?_ What did he do to deserve this?

It felt like someone had stabbed him through the back with a knife.

His freedom was gone. His independence was gone. He would have to give his life, his  _body,_ to someone who hated him with everything in their being. Shadow would use this to his advantage. Hell, he already was, just with that threat this morning. To be immortally stuck with Shadow, never having a say over himself anymore and giving up the one thing he worked so hard for…

He decided he will go through the tests to see if his uncle was right. Talk to his parents to see what they knew. He needed to get more information before he made his decision. He had a couple years, right? He had plenty of time to decide…

It wasn't like this thing with Shadow was going to get any better, though…

He tried to picture it; he and Shadow actually liking each other, in a relationship, in  _love._ He just couldn't. Shadow hated him without end, and he was starting to hate the other more and more every day now. It'd be a miracle if it actually worked out between them…

He slumps back against the tree, feeling exhaustion creep up with him. His body hurt, but with how tired he was, he hoped he could sleep for once without the pain keeping him up.

He put all the papers in his bag, and used it as a back support as he laid back against the tree and closed his eyes, telling himself he'd only sleep for a few hours.

* * *

It was dark when he woke up.

"Shit!" he exclaims, panic starting to flow through him as he looked at the time and saw that it was only two minutes to twelve.

Shadow was going to be pissed.

How tired  _was_ he? Did he really sleep that long? He grabs his bag and races back to Mobotropolis, heart hammering in his chest. He begged whatever gods were out there that Tails was done with the inhibitors and he could get them back to Shadow before midnight…

He doubted it.

Half a minute had already passed when he burst into his brother's lab, asking if the rings were done before Tails could process that he was even there.

"Sonic?!"

"I need the rings! Shadow needs them back, I mean," he explains, hoping he didn't look as worried as he was. Tails gives him a weird look, before grabbing the rings off the desk by his computer and handing him two sets, one gold and one a sky blue color.

"Here, you-..."

"Thanks bro you're the best!" Sonic yells as he turns and runs out, leaving Tails standing there looking dumbfounded.

The blue hero ran like his life depended on it through the fields outside of Mobotropolis, not even looking at his communicator to know that it was already after midnight. He hoped Shadow wasn't home yet, hoped the G.U.N. mission lasted longer than it-

Then something crashed into his back.

He lets out a surprised yelp as he's suddenly rolling, pain flaring in his back as he hits the ground, hard, inhibitors flying out of his hands on the ground next to him.

"You're late," he hears the husky, dark tone of his rival, and he curses a million words through his head as he sits up, rubbing his back. He was pretty sure he was hit with a Chaos Spear.

"Oh, it's not that big of a deal," he huffs, watching Shadow pick up his rings and snap them on, glancing at the light blue ones laying on the ground.

"Not that big of a deal?" Shadow asks, sounding ticked beyond belief. "You got to sleep all day," he says then, voice lowering as he dropped to a knee in front of the blue hero still sitting on the ground. Sonic's eyes widen as Shadow grabs his muzzle roughly, forcing him to meet his eyes. "...while I was forced to fight the doctor with no inhibitors, and my energy burning me alive. So, faker…" he suddenly forces Sonic backwards, causing the hedgehog to wince in pain as his back hit the ground again, Shadow pinning him down in between his legs and looming over him menacingly. "...tell me again it's not that big of a deal."

His heart was racing so fast he felt as if it was going to explode out of his chest. Shadow's energy was mingling with his, making him hot all over and his body tremble with the dark hedgehog sitting over him, leaving him with nowhere to go. He couldn't even fight him; his energy wouldn't allow it. Shadow wouldn't...would he? There's no way...he wouldn't…

He opened his mouth to speak, but found his voice not wanting to work. What was he supposed to say to that? He was sorry? Like hell if he did that, his pride was already shot to begin with. Shadow waited for him to speak, but Sonic snapped his mouth back shut stubbornly. It wasn't like he could argue with him though, either.

"That's what I thought," Shadow growled, leaning down to speak in his ear. "You have no idea," he hissed, causing Sonic to shudder. He could feel the other's breath on his ear, making it flick and twitch, more heat spreading through him and starting to focus on a certain area below. Oh Chaos, make it  _stop…_ "...what I had to go through today," the biohog continued. "I told you to have them back by midnight. You should have brought them to me as soon as they were finished. Instead you slept all day without a problem, while I had to  _wait_."

It would seem Shadow was enjoying this power over him. Sonic swallowed and turned his head, feeling pathetic. He couldn't even find the will to talk back. He was terrified and so pride-hurt it was breaking him apart.

"I'm starting to get tired of this," Shadow continued, voice practically a growl. "Every damn day I have to deal with this energy, when the solution to the problem is right  _fucking_ beneath me. Give me one reason why I shouldn't just take you right now and be  _done_ with it."

Sonic swallowed before he finally forced himself to speak, hating how shaky his voice was. "I-It won't be d-done with… W-We're stuck like th-this…"

"And you expect me to wait until you die to not feel like this?" Shadow sneered. "I'll be damned if I have to go another  _day_ like this."

Sonic turns his head, glaring up at him weakly. "Y-You're the one that t-told me to find a way to fix it! I've been t-trying!"

Shadow glared back down at him. "It's been almost a month, hedgehog! How much longer do you think we can go?! Either I kill you or fuck you, and if you don't give an answer now, I'll decide for you!"

Sonic flinched, turning his head away, his heart now loud in his own ears. He was going to have a panic attack at this point. He couldn't...not this...he just couldn't…

"G-Give me some time…just a little more…" his voice was bordering that of a strained whisper. "Just a little more t-time...I might...I might have a way to fix it...I j-just need a little more…"

"Explain," Shadow orders, not leaving any room for argument. Sonic felt fear jolt through his chest like lightning. He didn't want to tell him he was immortal. He was honestly afraid to. If he didn't, though, Shadow would just…

"M-My uncle thinks I-I'm…" he starts, taking in a deep breath, trying to steady himself, "h-he thinks I'm...immortal…" he can see Shadow's brows fly up before narrowing in the corner of his eyes as he quickly continues. "B-But there may be a way to f-fix it! H-He might be able to get rid of my immortality and then if I'm n-not immortal, or lose my energy, then t-the bond might b-be broken!" he exclaims, hoping Shadow didn't jump to conclusions. The black and red hedgehog stares down at him, face unreadable.

"You're immortal," he states, as if processing it out loud. Sonic gives a shaky nod.

"Y-Yeah… W-Well...there's a good chance… He has to do some tests first to see for s-sure…"

Shadow looks away, brows furrowed. "Then I can't kill you."

"W-What?" Sonic asks before thinking. Shadow was actually going to kill him? Was he crazy?!

"The tests will take time," Shadow looks back at him with narrowed eyes. "And then it will take more  _time_ to figure out how to remove it...and then it will take  _even more time_  to actually go through with it. How  _long_ do you think that's going to take?"

Sonic felt his throat thicken. He wanted time to think on it...if he gave up his immortality...his Chaos Energy...wouldn't that go, too? He wouldn't be able to use the Chaos Emeralds, and in fights with Eggman...he'd be down those abilities…

...and his speed...did his speed have anything to do with his Chaos Energy?

What if the process killed him? Eggman would take over Mobius…

Shadow wasn't giving him any options. This...this wasn't fair…

"J-Just give me a little time to think, Shadow!" Sonic exclaims. "I j-just found out today! I don't even know what I w-want right now!"

"You think I care what you want?" Shadow sneers.

Those words hurt him deeper than he would like to admit.

Shadow really didn't care. He really, truly hated him.

...and this was his mate, he was stuck with for all eternity.

He wouldn't be able to make things up with Sally and possibly marry her. Wouldn't be able to find love with someone else if that didn't work out.

He was stuck with someone who hated him, would hurt him to solve their own problems…

"S-Shadow...just a couple days…" he tried in a weak voice. "T-That's all I'm asking…"

' _Please, just a couple of days. Don't make me beg. Don't do this to me…'_

Shadow scowls at him, his eyelids falling halfway as he stared down at him.

"I don't think so."

* * *

Rouge cursed under her breath as she sat down on her couch, holding her temples. She had fought with Shadow to just wait till morning, leave Sonic alone...but he took off, pissed as all hell and ready to shed blood.

Chaos, she hoped Sonic would be okay. If those old texts were true, though, she doubted it. He couldn't fight Shadow, because his energy would take control over his body and not allow him to. If Shadow pinned him and...Sonic wouldn't be able to do anything about it…

She stood up quickly, turning on her communicator. She could track Shadow's own communicator, follow him and hopefully stop him before he hurt Sonic.

They both ran so fast, though...she hoped she could get there on time...

* * *

"W-Wait!" he cried out, as Shadow suddenly leaned down and nipped on his neck. The moment those sharp teeth met his skin he felt his energy explode between them. A hot feeling coursed through his body, up to the tips of his ears, down to his toes, and settling strongly in between his legs and lower stomach.

Oh,  _no, no no no…_

"Sh-Shadow, w-wait!" he was really panicking now. He arched his back and kicked a leg weakly, but couldn't even lift his arms. He felt sapped of all his power, not able to work his muscles to fight the other off of him.

This was all kinds of wrong…

Shadow's teeth clenched down harder, and the blue hero let out another cry, the throbbing pressure between his legs unbearable. He felt so hot, so broken, it was starting to cause him to lose his mind.

Shadow is spreading his legs and sliding a hand under his lower back, lifting it off the ground, joining their hips in a fiery touch that had them both gasping. Shadow's fur had a flick of gold to it as his energy reacted to Sonic's, and that emerald green that happened the first time their energy reacted to each other came back, sparking between them like a match about to go off in flames.

Feeling Shadow grind against him set the fear into full swing, and he cried out in pure terror.

" _Sh-Shadow please! Don't! Don't do this!"_

He couldn't bare it. He didn't want this. He didn't want to give this up…

Shadow paused, pulling away from his neck, turning Sonic's face to meet his own.

"I'll do what I want," he snarls, making Sonic whimper. "It's your own damn fault this is happening, so suck it up and deal with it."

No…

" _You asshole!"_ Sonic yells out, turning his head away and squeezing his eyes shut tight. It  _was_ his fault...he thinks to himself. It still wasn't...it  _wasn't…_

Shadow grinds them together again, making him whine and arch, the hot feeling aching in between his legs and the pressure building quickly. His Chaos Energy seemed to enjoy making him suffer, and Shadow's was just as strong as it reacted against his. He kept his eyes tightly closed as he felt Shadow's teeth go back to biting his neck, before those dark hips snapped against his own, painfully hard, and sent him into a frenzy as his energy and body reacted instantly.

" _AHH!"_ he practically shrieks, feeling something odd happen down south other than him getting aroused, as a clear, wet liquid started leaking between his legs, coming from right underneath his tail...

He...he was…

Shadow seemed to realize it too, at the exact same time it processed in Sonic's mind.

Sonic was in heat.

It shouldn't have happened until after their first time, but it seemed his body had other plans. Maybe this was his energy finding pity on him. It would have hurt so much worse if not, and he didn't think Shadow planned on preparing him for what was to come…

"Now," Shadow huffs into his ear, "now we  _have_ to finish."

Even with his eyes open he could barely see. Barely process what was happening. All he could think about now was  _Shadow over_ him,  _Shadow grinding against_ him,  _Shadow touching_ him,  _Shadow, Shadow, Shadow_ …

He knew it was his Chaos Energy forcing him to submit like this, but he still felt awful. It was forcing him to  _want_ and  _need_ Shadow in every way, shape and form, and he wasn't strong enough to fight it. He had melted completely in Shadow's hold and couldn't do a damn thing to stop it from happening.

He told himself he didn't want this, but his energy and body most certainly did, and they didn't care what he thought on the matter.

He's taken by surprise when he realizes his member was out, fully erected in between the two of them, and then again when he realizes Shadow's is, too. He's mortified by himself losing control, and then of what was going to happen next. The hole underneath his tail was  _throbbing_ because of his heat, and he couldn't even tense up when he felt Shadow's tip press against it; his energy was keeping his body completely relaxed.

Shadow doesn't even give him time to ready himself, doesn't say a word before he's thrusting in, and Sonic can't stop the shocked scream from leaving his throat as he's penetrated. Their energy was bursting around them, blazing away the grass and burning a bright green. Shadow cursed and grabbed a tight hold around Sonic, pulling out just to thrust back in. Sonic was tight, and silky soft, wet from his heat and every time he thrusted forward he was rewarded with pure Chaos Energy, and even he couldn't stop the shaky moan that left his tans lips.

" _Ah...ahhhh!"_ Sonic meowed out, face stained red and sweat matting his dark blue fur. It hurt, so bad, but the pleasure was there and it was contrasting against the pain in an intense feeling he couldn't handle. He couldn't understand it, his body couldn't take it, and his energy was a fury because of it.

"L-Louder," Shadow growls in his ear, snapping his hips forward, harder and faster with each pant that left him. Sonic gasped and arched, fingers clawing the grass apart beneath him as his eyes opened and squeezed shut, trying to find an outlet for the feelings. Shadow growls and rocks forward hard, hitting a hot spot inside the hero and making Sonic let out a loud, crying moan.

He rears back and slams back into the hedgehog's prostate again, nailing it dead on and making Sonic bend in his hold, tears now leaving the corners of his eyes.  _"AhhhhhssShhhaddddowwwww!"_  he screams, after again another thrust has him  _dying_.

Heat was just  _exploding_ through his stomach and tingling his entire form, the pressure building and threatening to push him over the edge. Every thrust  _hurt,_ but it also felt  _good,_ and he was confused and ready for it to be over, but giving that up to Shadow…

The Ultimate Lifeform curses and buries his face in the crook of Sonic's neck, groaning and unable to stop the moans that followed. It was just too good...too much… He had never felt such intense energy, such intense feeling before in his life… It was a better feeling than having all seven Chaos Emeralds...and when Sonic cried out and called his name, it just made it all the better.

" _Ahh! I-I c- I can't…!"_ Sonic cried, his arms reaching up to grab onto the ebony hedgehog's shoulders, leaning up to bury his face in his white chest fur. He was going to lose it…  _"Shadowww!"_

Then Shadow grabs him by the back of his head, a fist full of quills as he yanks his head backwards, forcing Sonic to arch his back off the ground and give him that perfect opportunity to slam straight into that spot one more time.

Sonic squeaked and Shadow sputtered out a series of curses as they both fell over the edge, panting and shaking as the biohog slowed his thrusts to a stop. Sonic was mewling and whining, body shuddering violently with aftershocks, each breath that left him heavy and huffed, while Shadow suddenly felt lightheaded, cursing as he pulls out, holding onto Sonic tightly as if his life depended on it.

They both laid there, trying to pull themselves together. Sonic's fur faded back into its normal cobalt color for the first time since the bond happened, and Shadow finally felt relief flood his system. He felt no pain for the first time in a month.

He was the first of the two to recover, pushing himself up and staring down at the whimpering hedgehog he just screwed, realization suddenly hitting him like a truck at full speed.

He just raped Sonic.

What the hell had he been thinking?!

He was so tired and aggravated of his pain that he didn't for once think about what Sonic felt… He even told him he didn't care about what he thought. Sonic even  _begged_ him...all he had to do was give him a few days…

"S-Sonic…" he starts, reaching a hand up to grab the side of the hedgehog's muzzle. Sonic turned away, ears bent back as tears ran down his face.

" _G-Go away! Get the h-hell away from me!"_

He froze, watching as Sonic let out another sob, his body shuddering with it as he tried to catch his breath. He looked like he was hyperventilating...

"Sonic, I-"

" _I said go a-away! Leave me alone! I f-fffucking hate you!"_ the hero yells, not even looking at him.

Why did those words hurt him so much?

He...wasn't supposed to care...but he wasn't supposed to hurt him, either…

This whole bond was going to drive them crazy…

What would… What would Maria have thought of him?

She'd hate him too. She would be disgusted by him. She would disown him.

No...that...she would never…

He curses and pushes himself away from the blue hero, stumbling to his feet and holding his spinning head. Sonic curled up on his side, facing away from him, trying to control his breathing and get a handle on himself again. Shadow stood, watching, feeling a void open up in his chest that was much bigger than before.

What has he done?

...but Sonic wanted to be left alone...he...wouldn't have had to do that if Sonic had controlled his Dark form...it wasn't his fault...he had no choice...Sonic would have fought him no matter what…

Yes, it wasn't his fault. He was just doing what needed to be done.

Fine, he thinks, stumbling back a few more steps. Sonic wanted to be left alone. He would leave him alone.

The hero himself curses and whines as his body shuddered again, and he choked on another sob. He couldn't get himself to calm down. It was as if his own energy was fighting him for control over his own body. He kept telling himself to breathe, to stop crying, to get up, to do something, but his body wouldn't listen. Did his energy control him that much? Did it have some kind of mind of his own?

...but it wasn't just his energy, anymore. It was Shadow's, too. They were connected, they had the same energy, now. Maybe Shadow was subconsciously controlling him, now. Maybe he was doing it on purpose…

He felt a breeze dash passed him, and it only took a second to realize Shadow had left him alone, just as he asked.

...but he really didn't want to be alone.

He could only curl up more, and cry himself to sleep.

* * *

He woke up with a gasp, feeling bedsheets beneath him. He tried to sit up but cried out when pain prevented him from doing so, his head falling back on the pillows and his mind rushing back to what had happened last night.

Shadow…

"Sonic?"

He turns his head and sees Rouge walk in the room, sitting on the edge of the bed and gently holding the side of his face. "Blue, honey? Are you alright?"

She was so sweet, and soft, and kind, and no he wasn't alright, and...and Shadow needed to die...and he lost control over himself, and everything was just…

He doesn't realize he's crying until Rouge pulls him up and into a warm hug, petting through his quills and whispering softly to him.

"I know, sweetheart, I know…" she murmured, and he couldn't stop the sob that left him because she was just so nice to him...and he really needed someone right now…

"It's okay, I'm here for you, darling…" she goes on, trying to contain her anger.

She was going to kill Shadow.

Fuck, she wished she hadn't promised to keep this whole thing a secret. She could really use a hand in kicking his ass. She could probably tell Omega, but being a robot he wouldn't understand or probably care. She really wanted to tell Knuckles, but he would just rip Shadow limb from limb and everyone would find out, and Sonic didn't need more drama than he had right now.

Sonic's cries are quiet and barely audible. She assumed it was because he was trying to not cry and pull himself together, but he wasn't going to be able to do that anytime soon, not with what just happened. She was going to have to do more research about Chaos Born, see if there was anything she could do to help him. See if there was a way for him to fight Shadow when he had to, or control the heats he was now going to start having unwillingly.

Her problems use to consist of how she was going to get the gems or information she wanted, always in her best interest. She's never cared for anyone as much as she cared for Sonic now, and now her problems were to find a way to make Shadow suffer as much as possible and help Sonic get over this, all the while keeping it a secret until Sonic gave her the go.

The hedgehog in her arms is shaking miserably, and she sighs, closing her eyes and resting her chin on top of his head. "I know, Sonic. We're going to figure this out, kick his ass, and find a way to help you. I promise I won't stop until this is settled."

She wasn't used to taking care of other people like this. Maybe being a club owner has softened her up, or possibly her admiration of a certain echidna, or her respect for the blue hero. She didn't know, and at that point, she guessed it didn't really matter, because she was the only one that could help Sonic now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Three - Calling the Truce**

He was laying on his side when she walked in with a glass of water, facing the wall away from her. She notices his quills are all tensed and pointed out like a trap of spikes, as if he was worried someone would sneak up on him. She didn't have the heart to tell him they wouldn't do a thing against Shadow.

"Hey, baby-Blue, drink this," she calls softly, sitting on the edge of the bed. He was refusing food and water earlier, but maybe now he would at least try to get something in his system. He doesn't budge, however, his ears quirking back and the scowl deepening on his face, eyes still closed.

With a sigh the bat girl sets the cup of water down on the nightstand, before flapping her wings to get over the hedgehog and lay on her side next to him, facing him. There wasn't much space there for her up against the wall, but she got comfortable anyway and threw an arm around the hero, pulling him in for a hug. His eyes snap open and his face reddens instantly, when his face is practically smashed into the abino's large chest. He closes his eyes, his scowl returning, and she chuckles, pressing a soft peck on his head.

"How're you feeling, Blue?" she asks, her voice quiet, "...and don't say, 'fine,' either. That's a dirty word that means there's obviously something wrong."

"Annoyed," he mumbles, the first thing he's said since waking up. She smiles, taking that as a victory.

"What else?" she continues to pry, loosening her hold on him so she can see his face. He meets her eyes, frowning at her, and she notices the red in his eyes was gone, and he seemed to be under control of his emotions again.

"Tired," he mutters, his tone just slightly above a whisper. She chuckles again, pointing a finger at his chest, or specifically his heart.

"I mean here, darling. Get those emotions out. There's really no point in hiding them from me at this point."

He seems uncomfortable, but sighs and closes his eyes, knowing there really was no point in hiding them from her. She's already seen him cry, and probably in the worst state he's ever been. How come it was always her that was finding him like this? When he first went Dark, she was there, she was the one that found him, panicking in a mess of destroyed robot, hyperventilating because he had  _no idea_ what was going on around him. She stayed with him until he calmed down, and helped him out of there.

Then there was the last fight with Sally, where he found the princess locking lips with St. John, who decided to come back at the  _best_ of times. He sat at her bar and talked her head off, first in tears, second in anger, and then he just hung out with her the rest of the night on her couch, the two watching comedies and laughing about dumb things that happened in missions and day-to-day events.

...and now this…

She was starting to become a sisterly-mother to him. Where his mom lacked the social skills and seemed too awkward to be a mom to begin with, Rouge pulled down all the boundaries and took care of him like a mother would.

She admitted once she didn't really understand her care for him, especially since she honestly didn't really care too much about others, but that she just couldn't help it and was fine with it.

"Aggravated," he admits, and she nods in understanding.

"Go on, darling, get it all out."

For some reason, once he started, he couldn't stop. "Pissed off, upset, irritated, I want to kill him, I hate this, I hate myself for not being able to do anything about it." He pauses to wipe his eyes, while Rouge pets through his quills. "I want to run and hide somewhere, or slam my head repeatedly into something until I go into a coma… I can't control my emotions...I can't control myself...I can't even…" he stops himself with a shaky intake of breath, as she pulls him into another hug. "I can't even fight him...I don't have a say in anything...I can't tell anyone or it's going to cause more problems...I...found out I'm immortal…"

She blinks in surprise and pulls away from him, meeting his shaky emerald eyes. "You're what?"

"Immortal," he huffs. "Apparently my energy is so strong I can't die."

"When did you find this out?" she asks, unable to contain the shock on her face. He closes his eyes, his brows knitting together.

"Yesterday morning. My uncle told me. He has to do some tests to see if it's true for sure, but…"

"Does…" she starts, trying to process this. "Does Shadow know?"

Saying his name seemed to snap something in Sonic, because his ears flew back and flattened against his head. "I didn't want to tell him...but I didn't have a choice…"

He hated those words.

He's never had to give up like that before, or do something against his will. He's always had the power to fight it, fight back…

"He was going to kill me if I didn't…if I didn't choose to submit..." he continues...voice shaky. Rouge stares with wide eyes as he goes on. "When I told him I couldn't die he just…"

That son of a bitch…

Rouge closes her own eyes and takes in a deep breath, trying to contain her anger. "I'm sorry, Blue…"

He shrugs, letting out another shaky breath. "It's not like there's anything that can be done about it, now…"

He sounds like he's given up, and that really bothers her. She presses another kiss on his forehead and holds him close. "Maybe not, darling, but we're going to find a way to smooth this out as best as we can. We're not going to let him take advantage over you like this, and we're going to make sure this goes as good as it can for you."

"Hmm."

She can tell he doubts it, and she slightly does, too, but they needed to be determined about this. Both hedgehogs were going to have to force this to work, especially in these next six months.

She still wasn't going to be happy with Shadow when he showed up, though.

"Drink your water, sweetheart," the bat says quietly, after laying with the cobalt hero for almost a half hour. "I'm going to go make you some food." She presses another kiss on his forehead before she gets up, watching him sigh and sit up to grab the glass. "Try not to be so grumpy," she pats his head, making him roll his eyes. "It doesn't suit you, Sonic. Everytime you're unhappy, I get unhappy, and then we're both no good to each other."

There's a hint, just a tiniest bit of a smile there, but it's gone as he drinks his water, looking away from her. She puts her hands on her hips, smiling at him.

"A for effort, I suppose. Rest up, darling, and you're more than welcome to stay here as long as you need to, especially when you have to be around that asshole," she says, before frowning curiously. "Do...you know when your heats are supposed to start?"

His face reddens and he looks away, shrugging. "I don't know…" he mumbles. "I've already had o-one…"

Already? She frowns, thinking back to the papers. She needed to keep reading so she knew what to expect. If he was in heat before Shadow even took him, then there was something she needed to figure out.

"I'll look into it," she offers quietly. "I recommend staying here anytime you guys have to...you know…" she doesn't want to really bring it up, and with the way he avoids her as his ears flatten and his face darkens, she can tell he doesn't even want to think about it. "Just until you can trust him enough to not be near me when it's going down."

"That'll never happen," he mutters, closing his eyes and falling back down on the pillow.

She studies him for a moment, wondering if she should try to console him any more, but decides he really needs to eat, and she turns, stopping in the doorway to glance back at him. "Sleep, shower, do what you need to, darling. I'll be back up in a little bit."

* * *

When he arrived at Club Rouge, the bat girl herself was standing in the kitchen, cleaning up what looked to be breakfast. She doesn't even look up at him, but her large white ears flick at the sound of him in the doorway.

"I should kick you out," she says, throwing her dishrag in the sink, "but I don't trust what you would do outside of this building."

He glares at her as she walks up to him, crossing her arms and scowling at him. Their ears were both bent back aggressively, and the tension between them was growing immensely.

"You hurt him," she continues, voice low and threatening. "I told you to leave him be. What you did was inexcusable."

"It isn't your problem, so your opinion doesn't matter to me," he glares back at her, eyes narrowed.

"It is my problem!" she yells, her fur practically standing up on end. "You left him there! If I hadn't followed you there and found him he would have been stuck there all night! He was bleeding for Chaos's sake!"

"I left because he told me to, so mind your own damn business," Shadow snaps back, his quills rising in agitation.

"You should have at least brought him to me, so I can take care of him!" she growls. "Not just leave him there like that!"

"Like you give a damn about anyone but yourself," the biohog argues back. "You only help others if there's something in it for you."

He wasn't expecting to be kicked back so hard he crashed through a cabinet full of wine bottles.

He hit it hard, glass stabbing into his back and causing him to curse loudly, grimacing as he collapses on the splint wood and shards of wine bottles, slipping in the alcohol as it started to pool on the floor beneath him.

That  _bitch._

He gets up, watching her tense defensively, ready to kick him again if he tries to attack her back.

That's exactly what he planned to do.

He launches himself at her, ready to knock her right off her feet, but something hits him first, and he's suddenly stumbling backwards, holding his face as blood dripped down from the newly made gash in his muzzle.

It takes him a minute to realize it wasn't Rouge that hit him.

Sonic seems just as surprised as the both of them that he managed to actually  _hurt_ Shadow, but he's the first to recover as he looks down at the blue rings around his wrists, realizing the same time they did that they were glowing brightly.

"Didn't think these would work  _that_ well," he admits out loud.

So the inhibitors Tails made let Sonic hit him…?

He can feel his Chaos Energy reacting, confused as ever. Sonic shouldn't have been able to even lift a finger against him, yet he hit him straight on and left a significant injury as well.

The hero was standing in front of Rouge protectively, fists raised and eyes narrowed determinedly. Sonic's energy must be going insane at that point, and seeing how the hero's face was red and he was shifting uncomfortably, he could tell the rings could only protect him from his energy so much.

Sonic was probably about to go into heat, but with the rings on it was having a hard time happening…

Rouge had a hand over her mouth as she watched Sonic stand ready to attack the other hedgehog again. Sonic would risk making his situation with Shadow worse just to protect her? Now  _that_ was some chivalry if she ever saw it. It actually touched her, that he would do that for her, but worry settled in right after as she realized Shadow was most likely going to kill Sonic for this.

Luckily Shadow seemed too far shocked to do anything immediately. That look on his face was priceless, and she had to hold her laugh in because this was probably going to get messy.

Shadow recovers, sneering at the blue hedgehog that stood his ground against him. "They aren't going to last much longer," he says, almost mockingly. Sonic's energy was too strong to be held back by any inhibitor. He would go into heat within the hour, and the more energy he used, the sooner it would happen. The moment the hero went into heat, he would lose complete control over his body and won't be able to do anything at all, no matter how strong-willed he was.

"Well, then I guess I should take advantage of this wonderful opportunity," Sonic's reply was dark, his tone even darker. He looks back at Rouge, his voice softening just slightly. "I'll repay you for the damages with a Chaos Emerald."

Her eyes lit up, mouth falling open, before she smirks and nods towards Shadow. "You don't have to repay me at all, Big Blue. Seeing you kick his ass is good enough for me."

"Good," Sonic hums, turning back and swiping his nose with his thumb.

Shadow doesn't even get to blink before Sonic is dashing at him, fist reared back. He barely catches the other, but not before they go crashing through the wall, over the bar counter, and all the way into the far wall on the other side of the club.

Rouge had to admit, she flinched when that wall exploded, but, Sonic needed this.

Shadow's back hits the bottom of the wall, and Sonic doesn't hesitate to slam his fist into the biohog's face, then again, and before he can hit him a third time Shadow grabs the hedgehog by the arms and throws him to the side. Sonic hits the ground but gets up just in time to lock fists with the other, his blue inhibitors glowing against the strain of his energy fighting him.

They meet eyes, and Shadow notices the other's face is still red, and the hedgehog is just glaring at him as if he wanted to kill him, and he can feel their energy reacting, not happy with those rings…

He doesn't expect Sonic to risk losing his stance when a knee hooks him in the ribs, and then another kick sends him crashing through a couple tables behind him.

Sonic's heart was slamming in his chest faster than ever. He hoped by the time his heat won over his body Shadow was down enough to not be able to hurt him anymore, or get revenge for this, but his hopes were dim at the chances of that going that well.

Before the ebony hedgehog can get up he decides to spindash him, slamming into him and hearing Shadow let out a loud curse as he continued to spin into him. It doesn't last long before he's being thrown backwards, and he bounces against the ceiling, landing in a crouch on the ground just as Shadow's running after him.

He dodges to the side and grabs a nearby steel chair, slamming it against the dark hedgehog as he passed by. Shadow stumbles, nearly falling forward, catching himself on a couch and turning to hit the other with a Chaos Spear, but is cut short when he gets hit in the head full force with the side of the chair.

He practically sees stars as he falls backwards, reaching up a hand as he sees Sonic swing the chair again. Wasn't the hero against weapons? He supposed at this point the hedgehog didn't care, but just wanted to cause him as much pain as possible.

For some reason, he couldn't give his all in this fight. There was the tiny voice in the back of his head that said he deserved this, but was too damn stubborn to listen to it.

He catches the chair before it hits him, throwing it aside and causing Sonic to fall forward with it, the hero yelping as he lands on the dark hedgehog. Shadow takes that opportunity to flip them over, slamming the hero against the ground and the back of the couch. Sonic grabs a glass cup off the table nearby as he falls, smashing it into the side of Shadow's head and causing him to reel back.

Sonic kicks them over, about to get up when a shudder goes through him and he gasps, gritting his teeth. He quickly gets up, attempting to take a step back, when his knees give out from under him and he collapses.

' _Not now, come on!'_ he thinks helplessly, watching Shadow push himself up, and again their eyes meet, and Shadow notices what's going on, and Sonic bites the inside of his cheek, debating heavily on his next move.

As Shadow gets to his feet, stepping forward, Sonic grabs the table next to him and swings it full force, nailing the onyx hedgehog in the stomach and sending him backwards, table falling on him.

That was it, Sonic falls back and scoots back so he's against the wall, panting. He squeezes his legs together, shaking uncontrollably as his energy was starting to really fight his inhibitors. All he could do was try to calm himself down, begging Chaos to not put him in heat, just not yet…

Rouge is then kneeling down beside him, giving him a smirk. "Beautiful. Damages are so worth it."

Sonic gives a weak chuckle, but turns his head as another shudder goes through him. Rouge pulls him into a hug, turning to watch Shadow push the table off of him, rolling to his side to hold his stomach. They meet eyes, before he huffs and closes his, and she notices that he's shaking now almost as bad as Sonic is.

So Sonic wasn't the only one suffering here...Shadow was being affected by Sonic going into heat…

"I think you guys are done, here," she decides to announce, scratching behind one of Sonic's blue ears as she talked. "No more fighting. Shadow," she snaps, getting his attention, "you can't even  _touch_ him unless he  _gives_ you his consent. If you do without I'm telling Towers you're planning on assassinating him, and then he'll have you locked up on Prison Island again for another fifty years, while they feed Sonic your Chaos Energy. Clear?"

He blinks at her, before looking away. His nod is barely noticable, but she takes it. He's learned his lesson, for now at least.

"Blue," she says to the hero in her arms, making him look up at her. "You'd better tell me when and if he hurts you like that again, so I can ruin his life. Don't hide anything from me, you understand?"

He nods, closing his eyes as she pulls him into another hug.

"Good, then," she looks back at Shadow. "Here's how this is going to work… For now, you two are to meet up here any time Sonic goes into heat. This is the only place you guys will take care of your business, until Sonic says he's comfortable and I deem it okay for you guys to go somewhere else with it. You guys need to figure this out on your own, but I'm going to be keeping an eye on you both until you guys can be trusted to not kill each other and be safe with each other. I mean my threats, Shadow."

He huffs and gets up, despite how shaky he is, and she can tell he's actually hurt, and Sonic never fully recovered from last night…

They were both broken messes, and she supposed she had her work cut out for her…

* * *

The tension in the air was so thick you could mistake it for fog.

Rouge's way of punishing Shadow was letting him bandage and clean himself up, picking the glass out of his head and back, while she cleaned up Sonic. They sat in her kitchen, ignoring the hole in the wall she was going to make Shadow pay for (along with all the other damages, especially her wine), Sonic sitting on the counter by the sink while Shadow stood on the other side of the room, doing a half-assed job of taking care of himself.

Sally was texting Sonic, asking where he was, when he would be back, and he was explaining to her that G.U.N. needed his help for something, and that he would be back within a week or so, give or take a few days.

"I'm surprised you're as nice to her as you are," Rouge comments, ripping the end of the bandage and pinning it to the ones wrapped around the hero's chest. Sonic shrugs, putting his communicator down next to him.

"We've made up. She apologized and everything…" he says, sounding glum. "Everything's been fine…"

"Are you still in love with her?" the bat can't help but ask, tilting her head as she steps in front of him slightly. He avoids her look, again shrugging.

"Yeah, but it's not like that matters now."

Shadow on the other side of the room felt those words hit him like a spear. Sonic would never be able to chase his dreams of being with Sally now, simply because of him, because of this bond.

Rouge sighs, leaning back against the island counter behind her. "I never liked her anyway, to be honest, darling. She's demanding, and anytime something doesn't go her way she acts like it's the end of the world. She wasn't right for you."

Sonic scoffs, an empty smirk curving his lips. "And who is?"

Another burn, and both Shadow and Rouge felt it.

Rouge looks down, crossing her arms with a frown. "I suppose I can't open the club today… I'll have to get some calls made to get this all fixed." She looks back at Shadow, who seemed to have given up on his injuries, before looking back at Sonic. Both hedgehogs were still shaking, and Sonic's light blue inhibitors were glowing brightly. At least he had a method of kicking Shadow's ass when he needed to, she thinks. That was a start. He looked horrible, though, with his face red and his ears pinned back. He couldn't even stand on his own anymore; she had to practically carry him in here earlier.

He was only a fraction away from going into heat, and he had to be suffering like crazy at the moment. They all knew what was going to have to happen, but they were all stalling…

"Alright," she sighs, getting their attention. "I'm going to take Blue upstairs to the room I'm giving him. Give him all the time he needs before you guys take care of the current problem at hand."

Sonic flusters and bites his bottom lip, while Shadow looks away, avoiding her look.

Walking over and helping Sonic off the counter, she glances at Shadow one last time before throwing Sonic's arm around her shoulders and helping him out and to the room.

By the time she sat him down on the bed, a look of anxiety had settled on his face, and she felt bad for allowing this to happen.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this, Blue," she says, kneeling to sit on the ground in front of him, taking his hands in her own. "I won't be far, and will be right up afterwards, okay?"

He looks like he's really going to have an anxiety attack, and his nod is shaky as all hell. "Y-Yeah…"

She stands up and hugs him again, and he lets out a trembling sigh, burying his face in the crook of her neck.

"It shouldn't be as bad as the first time," she says, trying to ease his worry. "I'll get you a warm bath after and you can sleep. I'll go out and get you the finest chili dogs I can find."

A weak chuckle leaves him as she pulls away, and she can tell he's  _trying_ to listen to her. Trying to stay calm.

She smiles warmly at him. "I won't leave until you're ready."

They sit for a couple more minutes, before he gives her the okay, and it takes all her power to leave him there.

She felt like she was giving up her most treasured possession, and it  _hurt_.

* * *

" _Be_ gentle  _with him."_

" _You hurt him and I'll kill you."_

" _Don't make me regret this."_

Those are the words Rouge told him before she sent him upstairs. He didn't make any promises, but he knew she would follow through with her threats if she had to. She was a woman of her word, which was one of the reasons they had become allies, if not friends, over time.

When he entered the room, Sonic glared at him heavily, and the atmosphere suddenly weighed much more than it was supposed to. He suddenly felt defensive, even though he knew he should be in the wrong.

His stubborn mind and energy told him that he shouldn't feel guilt. That he shouldn't feel bad because he was only doing what he had to.

He shuts the door behind him, not allowed to lock it under Rouge's orders. He crosses his arms, frowning at the shaking hedgehog sitting on the edge of the bed across from him.

"You have to take those off," he was talking about the inhibitors. Sonic's glare darkened.

"I will when I have to," he huffs, face already pink and sweat already visible on his cobalt fur. The hero's legs were squeezed together and his hands were in his lap, hands curled into fists. The fact that he hadn't gone into heat yet was actually impressive at this point, but it was obvious that it was going to happen the moment Shadow laid hands on him.

The biohog let his arms fall to his sides, thinking they might as well just get this over with. He walks over and sees Sonic tense up, leaning over and grabbing the hero under the knees, and lifting him up and in the middle of the bed.

Just as he had thought, the moment he moved Sonic, the hedgehog let out a huff and then a hiss, and then a whimper as his body reacted to his mate's touch. The blue hero squeezed his eyes shut, feeling his energy begin to course through him like it did the night before, and he knew the moment those rings came off he was going to fall apart like a set of building blocks.

Shadow crawled over him, spreading his legs apart and reaching for his wrists, grabbing the blue rings and feeling for the buttons that would release their clips. He found them, and his eyes met Sonic's, and it took the younger of the two a second to realize Shadow was waiting on his approval, which was actually surprising but gratefully appreciated, especially considering how last night went…

He takes in a deep breath and turns his head, looking away and giving the other a tiny nod.

The moment the inhibitors came off, a blast of energy hit the both of them, and Sonic gasped and threw a hand over his mouth as his heat broke him apart immediately. A hot, intense pressure built between his legs and his lower stomach, and he whined at the feeling of something wet trailing down between his thighs.

Shadow seemed to lose it then, and he leaned forward, locking lips with the hedgehog and forcing his tongue in the other's mouth. Sonic moaned, hips bucking and hands finding the sheets beneath his head, whining as he lost all sense of self-consciousness with every touch.

Shadow's hips bucked into his own, and Sonic let out another gasp, choking back a cry as he felt the other's hands travel down his body and feel him up in between his thighs. Gloves discarded sometime in between the kiss, he feels a finger prodding the tight hole beneath his tail and he whines again, legs spreading on his own without even thinking about it.

His body is forced to relax because of his energy, and he reaches an arm up to wrap around Shadow's shoulders as he feels that finger enter him, slowly but easily without resistance.

" _Ah-!"_ he turns his head and snaps his teeth together, unable to stop the needing whines and moans leaving his lips as his body arched in Shadow's arms, the black and red hedgehog nipping lightly at his neck and drawing a few specks of blood, while his finger curled and thrusted inwards, wringing out another cry of pleasure from him.

His vision was going white, his energy was giving him a dark aura that swirled upwards until it hit Shadow's own golden aura, their Chaos Energy reacting to the emotions and physical pleasure in between them. He yelped when he was thrusted into again, just short of hitting his sweet spot, before Shadow is adding a second finger and those fingers curl, spread open, and thrust forward, stretching him open.

" _Nnya-ahhh~!"_ he exclaims, squeezing his eyes shut. It felt so much better than the first time, despite the pain that was still there. Shadow must have been told off by Rouge before he came up here, because he was actually taking the time to prepare him this time. His member was poking out of its pouch, peaking out more and more with every thrust. The clear fluid his body produced when he went into heat, was leaving a mess in his crotch and the bed under him. His hands fly above his head and hold onto the wall there, arching his back and moaning loudly as his prostate is hit, hard this time.

Watching Sonic come undone beneath him was something he didn't think would get him this good, but he was having one hell of a time just watching, now. The way Sonic's mouth would fall open, tongue falling out and face flushed dark pink, sweat dripping down his pelt and eyes squeezed tightly shut, brows up in stress from the pleasure, ears bent back and quills flat against his head. The way he would moan and whimper, and his hands would grip the wall, then the sheets, as if they just didn't know what to do with themselves, while the hero's back would arch and his body would mold into whatever the ebony hog saw fit.

He was enjoying this more than he thought he would. More than he knew he should.

Sonic pants heavily as he feels those fingers remove themselves from him, his mind swirling as it tried to keep up with his body. An arm is sliding around his waist and lifting his back off the bed, until only his upper back and toes are touching it. He whimpers, grabbing the sheets and nearly tearing them, feeling Shadow's tip press against his opening, and his toes curl at the feeling of being slowly entered.

Shadow was definitely being far more gentle with him this time around, although he could be  _better._ He didn't appreciate the hickies he was sure were on his neck now, or the fact that he probably wasn't going to be able to walk at all at this point…

" _Ah!"_ he exclaims when his thoughts are suddenly destroyed, as Shadow thrusts forward all the way in, not holding back anymore. He pulls out and slams back in, making the hero curse and cry out loudly, his legs kicking, hands finally ripping the sheets.

" _Sha-! Ahh-hah!"_ he can't get anything out or hold it in, and Shadow was increasing his pace, leaning forward to wrap an arm around the hero's torso, while his other hand grabbed his right thigh and forced his legs apart more, getting a better angle. Sonic squeezed his eyes shut, meowing out uncontrollably, while the streaked hedgehog panted heavily in his ear.

It was hot, and the pleasure was beginning to get too much, and Sonic leaned his head back as he felt warm lips on his own, Shadow's tongue invading his mouth again. He just happens to squint open his eyes and meets Shadow's ruby red ones, and the dark hedgehog takes that initiative to bit his bottom lip, tugging roughly on it, before reaching a hand up to hold the side of his face.

They never broke eye contact.

Something about it was enough to make Sonic's heart pound heavier in his chest, make the pleasure ten times better than it was. Shadow leaned forward to press their lips together, not forcingly...leaving it soft and chaste.

It was an odd, bubbly feeling he couldn't describe.

...and then there's a thrust that has him  _losing_ it, a weak cry breaking his lips and making Shadow groan in his mouth.

" _Shadow!"_

Hearing Sonic call his name hits him in the chest, and the hand he has holding the side of the hero's face pets around to hold the back of his head, putting their foreheads together as he rode them through their orgasm.

This was getting to him too much…

Sonic shakes his head, mouth open as he arches his back again and lets out a soft whine, Chaos Energy buzzing through him and completely destroying his body and emotions again. He wraps his arms and legs around Shadow, whimpering and holding onto him tightly.

"Don't….d-don't leave y-yet…"

He's not sure why he listens, or why he pulls Sonic close to him in a tight hug, burying his face in the crook of the hero's neck. His energy felt warm, and he realized soon that Sonic seemed to be drawing on it, using it to calm himself down.

It dawns on both of them that Sonic needed Shadow's energy, or he would lose control of himself again…and it made Sonic tighten his grip on the dark hedgehog, begging without words for him to not leave. He didn't want to go through that again… He was tired of crying and not being able to keep himself in check…

By the time Sonic isn't shaking so badly anymore the Dark Chaos Born is practically asleep, his hold on Shadow weakened, giving the biohog a chance to pull out and let go of him.

Sonic groaned, reaching for him, but Shadow pushes him away, mixed emotions swirling through him.

One told him to lay with Sonic, the other told him to go.

Whatever chance he had to mend their relationship was gone with Sonic's virginity last night, and the hero said it himself; he hated him, and there was no fixing that no matter what he did. There was no point in trying to fix something that was far too broken, and so he gets up, only giving one last glance towards the now sleeping hedgehog murmuring his name, before he heads to the bathroom to shower, and then leave.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Four - Awkward Questioning and Learning**

Sonic was out cold when Shadow came down and left without a word, and the bat girl had to wake him up to get him to the shower. The blue hero was groggy and seemed to be barely awake, but she was able to help him clean up and get into a new bed so he could sleep soundly. She decided afterwards that a trip to the store was in order, and she left only after making sure Sonic would be alright.

When she got back Shadow was sitting on a couch on the far side of the club, head down on the table in front of him and flipping lazily through the texts from Angel Island. At least he was doing his research, she thinks as she carries her groceries into the kitchen. After setting up a pot of water to boil, she heads back out to the main room to sit across from the ebony hedgehog, resting her chin in her left hand.

"How's it going?" she asks, watching his ears flick back. He flips through another paper, ignoring her.

' _What a bundle of sunshine,'_ she thinks with a smirk to herself, shaking her head. "You should take Sonic on a run later when he wakes up. Take those papers with you, find a nice place for you two to read them together."

That earns her a small glare, as the hedgehog sits up and gathers the texts up in a pile. "I don't want to be anywhere near him," he says with a scowl. "His energy reacts too much to mine."

"You're not going to solve any of your guys' problems by avoiding each other," Rouge frowns at him.

"I'll do things how I want to," he stands up, taking the papers with him.

"You're stupid," Rouge huffs, turning her head and throwing her arms up in frustration. "Just do it, Shadow. It isn't going to hurt anyone."

He stands there, glaring at her, and she meets his glare with one of her own, electricity practically flowing between the two.

"I'd say if he doesn't want to, why force him," Sonic's voice spoke up from behind them, arms crossed. He was leaning back on a nearby table, seeming to have been there for a minute or two. "...but he seems to not mind forcing people to do things they don't want." When Shadow turns back to scowl at him, his emerald eyes narrow. "So tough shit. Let's go."

He doesn't give Shadow any room to argue, walking over to snatch the papers out of his hand and grab him by the wrist, and the two disappear in a flash of Chaos Control.

Rouge blinks, staring at the spot the two had been just seconds before.

"Power to you, Blue."

* * *

They sat next to each other, under the tree Sonic had sat at just the other day, the blue hero watching Shadow finish the papers he himself had already read. Shadow was sitting up, just an inch away, while Sonic leaned back comfortably against the tree, the sun warm as it flickered through the leaves above them.

It would be relatively relaxing if not for the constant buzz of Chaos Energy between them, or the fact that they hated each other, or that Sonic felt he had to remain on high alert because Shadow obviously couldn't be trusted…

He was surprised the striped hedgehog even agreed to sit down. He had thought he was going to have to prepare for a fight, but after a glaring match, Shadow actually sat and started reading. He wondered if it was because of Rouge's threats, because he couldn't figure out why else Shadow would actually listen, unless he was broken or something…

Speaking of…

Wasn't Shadow actually a robot? If he remembered correctly from what Rouge had said back on the ARK, Shadow was created by Professor Gerald, all from scratch. He didn't age, was never a child, he's always been the same as he was now. He was made to be a cure and a weapon, but anything else? His Chaos Energy wasn't even authentic...well...at least half of it anyway. Half of his energy was just synthetic, or fake, like the fake emerald Tails made before. It wasn't real Chaos Energy, so should a bond even be possible? If Shadow wasn't completely made out of real Chaos Energy, then their bond shouldn't be possible, right?

He furrows his brows, shaking his head. It had to be possible, if they had a bond now, as unlikely as it seemed.

...but if Shadow really was a robot, then what gives? He's pretty sure Shadow could bleed mobian blood, but he never ate. Never drank anything. Could he? He obviously could have sex, as he so subtly had learned, so he would assume so… That doesn't really make him a robot then, does it?

...but to create something that had such abilities… Shadow's strength was rival to that of Knuckles, Chaos ability equally matching his own… He could even run at the speeds Sonic could, and even though he used his skates to achieve such a feat, his body could still handle the velocity, where normal mobians -including Tails- couldn't.

He was probably the only other person on the planet that he could call his equal, and if they really were both immortal…

Just what  _was_ he? Maybe he should ask Rouge if she knew anymore about him…

Maybe he shouldn't be questioning Shadow until he figured himself out, though. He may or may not be immortal, which wasn't something any mobian just was. Shadow was created to be the Ultimate Lifeform, surpassing anything and everyone else, yet Sonic was simply born this way. Born an equal to the Ultimate Lifeform.

Maybe that was one of the reasons Shadow hated him, he realized. Shadow was created to be perfect, yet Sonic had achieved that simply by existing. Maybe that offended Shadow.

Would he have...actually tried to kill him? Sonic shook the thought from his head; he didn't want to think about it…

He watches Shadow flip through another page, thinking how this was the calmest he's ever seen his rival. He actually seemed relaxed, which was a first for the blue hero's eyes.

It could be worse, he then thinks. He could be bonded to anyone else...St. John, Kahn, Jet… He shakes his head again, shuddering inwardly at the thought of being forced with one of those guys…

Shadow was actually fun to be around when he wasn't a douchebag, he reminds himself. Racing him, sparring with him, and working together against a common threat… His favorite memory with Shadow was when the two of them and Rouge took out a weapon at the doctor's base. They worked perfectly together, and his favorite moment during the whole escapade, was catching Shadow after the hedgehog took off his inhibitors to take out the weapon. Shadow actually had smiled up at him. A real smile. Not his cocky smirk or evil grin that said he was going to kill you...a smile. Afterwards they shook hands and again he was rewarded with another smile, and there had been a twinkle in Shadow's eyes he had never seen before, but one he devoted to memory because it was just so…

He didn't even have a word for it, but it made him warm inside.

Maybe...they could have become friends...if this hadn't happened. The fact that Shadow had came to him that day, asking for his help, was a huge step towards friendship. Now they were all the way back at step zero, possibly the negatives now, and it didn't seem fixable.

His mind went back to only so many hours ago… Shadow could have hurt him again, but he didn't. He wasn't exactly gentle, but he made an effort to not be so harsh. Then there was that kiss, that strange, chaste kiss that seemed too...simple for the dark hedgehog. They had met eyes, and there was some kind of strange emotion in those red irises, and that warm feeling he had every time he thought back to that one memory came back to him, if only for such a short minute. Shadow had even stayed a little bit when he had asked…

Was there a chance? Would they be able to get over this?

No, not with how much Shadow hated him now, and he wasn't sure if he could forgive him for what he did to him.

Hopefully the most they could do would be to just make it through this without killing each other, and avoid each other any time they didn't have to be together. Still sucked he would never be able to go out with Sally again, or anyone else.

At least Shadow was attractive, he couldn't deny that. The first time he saw Shadow he was for some unknown reason drawn to how he looked and couldn't shake it. With his black fur and red markings, white tuff of chest fluff and upturned quills no other hedgehog could have, he always had the blue hero's eye. His eyes were the most interesting; crimson red that would put his shoes to shame. Even now staring at him, he had to admit he  _was_ attracted to Shadow's appearance. He was built like Knuckles and yet could be so swift and deadly…

He doesn't realize he's blushing until Shadow looks back at him, and his heart leaps into his chest.

If Shadow noticed him staring, then he didn't show it. Instead he leans back and flips through a set of papers he was holding. "I read all of it."

Sonic swallows the lump in his throat and hopes his energy can stay in control with Shadow's shoulder touching his, and he reaches for the papers next to him to hand to the other.

"Then we're caught up at the same spot. I haven't read these yet," he says, taking the read papers from Shadow to put back in the bag he brought, watching Shadow flip through the new pages.

Then he suddenly remembers  _why_ he stopped reading.

Panic suddenly fills him and he resists the urge to snatch the papers out of the Ultimate Lifeform's hands. "Uhh-I mean we don't have to read  _those-_ "

"Because they're about you?" Shadow interrupts, giving him a small frown. Sonic can't stop his face from reddening, and he glares back at him.

"I mean...I just don't think they're really important…"

Shadow huffs, looking back at the papers. "You and Rouge were the ones that wanted us all to read these, so we're reading them. Get over it."

Sonic bites the inside of this cheek, crossing his arms, ears pinning back. Oh, what was the point in arguing? He probably should learn this stuff anyway, as embarrassing as it was.

Ignoring that they were leaning against each other, he looks at the papers Shadow holds in between them and starts reading to himself, hoping Shadow finished before he did.

' _Once the first act of intimacy has taken place, the next acts take place when the Dark Chaos Born develops a heat. A heat prepares the Dark Chaos Born for the next act of intimacy, including heavy secretion and relaxing of the entire body.'_

Sonic put a hand over his mouth, knowing his face had to be red as ever.

' _When the Dark Chaos Born goes into heat, they will stay in heat until the two have sex again. The longer they go without, the more intense the heat will get. The reason being is because the Chaos Energy in the Dark Chaos Born builds up and does not stop until it is released. If a heat is not properly taken care of, the amount of built up Chaos Energy can cause the Dark Chaos Born to go into a coma, suffer great mental and emotional trauma, or even death. It is very important heats are taken care of within the first two hours of development._

' _During the Dark Chaos Born's heat, the Light Chaos Born will be able to sense and feel it, no matter how far away they are from each other or where they are. The Light Chaos Born will suffer great energy attacks if the heat is not taken care of. This was made so a Light Chaos Born could not ever neglect their mate in any form of abuse. The more the Dark Chaos Born suffers, the more the Light Chaos Born will as well._

' _A Dark Born's heat heavily effects their emotions, making them act uncharacteristically and act out on emotions. The stronger the Dark Born's energy, the stronger the emotional reactions. Some weaker Dark Born can learn to control these emotional reactions, although it is rare they are able to fully suppress them. Dark Born with stronger energy will not be able to contain nor suppress these emotions. The only way to keep them under control is if the emotional bond between the two Chaos Born is positive, and the Light Chaos Born shares their energies back and forth between them.'_

Sonic felt something bitter rise in his throat. So there was no way to keep his emotions under control unless Shadow was willing to be there for him? Maybe he was today, but if he decided he didn't want to…

He didn't like that at all. Not being able to control himself...having to rely on someone else for something like this...

' _Chaos is powered by emotions. The stronger the emotional bond between the two Chaos Born, the smoother the Mating Season will run its course. If there is either no bond or a negative bond between the two, it will cause both Chaos Born great pain throughout the Season, and can cause the Season to last longer than it is supposed to._

' _If a bond is strong it will give the Chaos Born many benefits, some including the ability to draw on and use each other's energy, telepathic communication, and stronger regeneration abilities._

' _If a bond is negative, Blocks may have to be established in order to protect the Dark Chaos Born from abuse.'_

Sonic perks up and Shadow frowns as they read the last line at the same time.

Blocks? Finally, something worth reading, Sonic thinks with a inner breath of relief.

' _A Block protects the Dark Chaos Born's energy from being manipulated by the Light Chaos Born. Light Chaos Born can bend and shape a Dark Born's energy, which can cause severe physical, mental, and emotional trauma if abused. A Block protects the Dark Chaos Born from attacks by sensing any attempted manipulations and sending them back to the Light Chaos Born. Some call it Chaos Mirroring, and it can be given to the Dark Chaos Born from the Master Emerald, issued by the Guardian.'_

Oh, that  _sucked_. He would need Knuckles to put the Block on him, but to do that he would have to tell Knuckles...and if he told Knuckles then all hell would break loose…

Maybe there was a way to do it without needing Knuckles… He's used the Master Emerald on his own before without the echidna's help, so if he just tried it on his own…

Maybe he could even talk to Tikal…

He realizes that Shadow was flipping through the papers almost as if he were lost in thought, a frown on his tan muzzle and his red eyes distant.

"Shadow?" he's not sure why he gets the others attention, but Shadow looks up, and that's when he truly notices how close they are.

Because their noses touch the moment Shadow turns his head.

Sonic jumps back and looks away quickly, a hot feeling rushing through him and he curses his energy for making the wrong assumption in the brief contact…

Shadow must feel it too, because he moves an inch away from him, black ears bent back.

Moving away seemed to have the opposite effect they wanted, though.

Sonic's energy only grew at that moment, and the blue hero closed his eyes and lets out a breath of air. "Th-This is stupid," he says shakily, catching Shadow by surprise. "I always thought Chaos Energy was a good thing to have. Everyone calls it a  _gift_. It's only taken away my entire freedom and ripped and torn it apart piece by piece."

Shadow doesn't say anything, looking down at the papers again, the same deep frown still on his muzzle.

The two sit in silence, and Sonic's curiosity has him opening his eyes to look over at Shadow, which is a bad idea because his energy just  _jumps_ the moment he lays eyes on him, and he curses internally when Shadow looks back up at him.

Did he ever get a break?

Then Shadow is shaking his head and standing up, grabbing all the papers into a pile and putting them into the bag sitting next to Sonic, and the blue hero is watching with dread building in his stomach.

"Let's go," Shadow says after the papers are packed up, and Sonic wants to argue, but knows there's no point, so he stands up and takes his bag from the black and red hedgehog, and with once last glare at each other, they disappear in a flash to Club Rouge.

* * *

Gloveless hands against the wall, knees on the bed, head looking down with eyes squeezed shut, Sonic bit his bottom lip to keep himself from crying out, but fails when Shadow snaps his hips in just the right direction, hitting his prostate and causing him to moan out loudly.

Shadow's face was buried in the crook of his neck, the Ultimate Lifeform panting while holding back his own moans, arms tightly wrapped around Sonic's torso and hips, each thrust faster and harder than the last.

The throbbing between his legs was almost unbearable at this point, and the blue hero had the urge to reach for his member to relieve some of that stress, but was too embarrassed to do so. He also felt like jelly, unable to move his arms from the wall in front of him, and so he bit his lip again, drawing blood when a particular thrust was too much.

He was honestly starting to get use to this, which horrified himself. He couldn't deny his body definitely enjoyed the attention, but he didn't  _want_ to. He supposed it was better than being in constant pain, but still…

He suddenly feels a warmth around his member and he sucks in his breath, before whining loudly as Shadow starts to stroke him, matching with each thrust into his rear.

Oh, he was gonna  _die_.

It was starting to get to be too much now, and Sonic shakes his head, reaching for Shadow's hand on his member and losing it.  _"Ah-! Ahh-Sha-! I can't-!"_

He was going to lose his mind at this point. He feels Shadow's other hand run up his chest and pull him back away from the wall, so Sonic's head falls back on his shoulder.  _"Shadow!"_ Sonic reaches behind him, hands flying up to grab on Shadow's head quills, legs shaking and threatening to give out, each thrust of Shadow's hips forcing a hot breath of air and whine from him, breaking him apart.  _"Ah-hahhhhaa…."_

Every noise that left Sonic only made Shadow want to go more; the sounds strangely addicting. He moves the hand that's on Sonic's chest up to his mouth, forcing those fawn lips open as he slides two fingers in his mouth.

"Scream," he huffs into the younger's blue ear, making it flick back against its owner's head. A noticeable shiver runs through Sonic at the hoarseness of the biohog's voice and his demand, before his eyes are widening as Shadow rams forward with no remorse.

Sonic screamed.

* * *

The bat girl smiles as she brings in a tray of fresh cooked chili dogs, making Sonic give her an empty smile where he lay on his back on the bed.

"Rise and shine, Baby Blue!" Rouge chirps, putting the tray on the nightstand, plopping down on the edge of the bed to lean over and press a kiss on his forehead. "I know with that apetite of yours you have to be  _dying_. I made these myself so you better not waste them!"

' _He really needs to eat. He barely touched his breakfast earlier, and that was a while ago now,'_ she thinks, watching him sigh and wince as he sits up.

"Thanks, Rouge," he mumbles eyeing the tray. His stomach growled, but the thought of putting food in his mouth made him want to gag. Even chili dogs weren't appeasing to him right now, and he's never had a problem accepting a chili dog before.

"Sonic," Rouge sighs, making him look up almost guiltily. "Please try. You're going to make yourself sick if you don't really eat."

He rests his head in his hand, crossing his legs and closing his eyes. "I know...I just don't have the stomach for it."

"You always have the stomach for food," she argues with a weak grin. "Try. You'll feel better when you do. Don't make me feed you."

He opens one eye to glare at her, before giving in and turning to reach for the plate of food. He grabs one and takes a bite, trying to appreciate the flavor. It honestly wasn't that bad.

"There you go!" Rouge smiles brightly, reaching up to pinch his cheek and pat him on the head, making him glare at her again. "Eat up. I'm going to let the repair guys in to do their thing. Let me know if you need anything else, okay?"

He waves her away, taking another bite of his food. After being left alone, he leans back against the pillows and continues to eat quietly, eyes narrowed as he stares up at the ceiling.

To have two heats in one day… How was he supposed to live like this? What if he was in the middle of battle and he got one? He wouldn't be able to fight… What if Shadow couldn't get to him within the two hours? What would happen then?

He felt sick thinking about all of it, and he tried not to as he continued eating. Rouge would scold him without end if he didn't finish his meal, so he pushed all thoughts of Shadow and this whole scenario to the back of his head and ate quickly.

He still couldn't help but wonder what Shadow really felt about all of this.

* * *

He watched the repairmen at their task of rebuilding the broken wall, while Rough flirted with their manager in the kitchen. She was a panda with long hair and yellow eyes, curvy hips and short hair, and Rouge was all over her. Or she was just trying to get the repairs cheap by winning the heart of the girl. Of course, she would probably be getting this whole set for free the moment she pulled the 'I'm friends with Sonic card,' but surprisingly the bat never even mentioned him.

She must really care about him, he thought with a frown. Why was beyond him; Rouge didn't care for anyone but herself, but for some reason Sonic was special to her. The two always got along well, but being this close wasn't something he had ever seen, unless there was something he didn't know about.

Sonic had crashed right after their 'business' as usual, but not as hard as the past two times he did. Again the hero had clung on to him and asked him to stay, if just for a little bit, and for some stupid reason he obliged, before coming to his senses and leaving him alone again.

The truth was, he felt guilty.

He wanted to apologize.

...but something was keeping him from doing it. He almost did, earlier under the tree when Sonic had started ranting, but something stopped the words from leaving his mouth. Then there was that thought that he shouldn't have to apologize, and that he had only done what needed to be done.

He couldn't tell if it was his energy making him think like that or his own self. At this point he couldn't tell the difference. He could hardly tell the difference between his own energy and Sonic's, now, which confused the hell out of him beyond end.

Sometimes he felt like he wasn't even the one acting, like something was taking control over him and forcing him to do things he would morally be against. Raping Sonic wasn't something he could fully justify; it was just plain wrong, but his brain would always find an excuse as to why he shouldn't feel bad, why it was fine.

' _Sonic's been through worse, he'll get over it.'_

That was the latest and probably most disgusting of his thoughts lately, but he couldn't help but agree with them.

He's always been a factual person, never relying on his emotions to tell him what he can and cannot do, but there was always a line, and he crossed it. Or, at least a part of him thought. A part of him that was slowly diminishing as the other part argued with it.

He felt like he was losing his mind, trying to figure it all out.

He knew what Maria would say. How she would respond to the way he was acting.

She would slap him. Tell him how disappointed she was in him.

That was probably what was pissing him off the most. What was making him act like he was. He couldn't stand the fact that Maria would be so upset with him…

...but he's already dug himself a hole. Already fucked up majorly. What could he honestly do now?

Sonic would never forgive him. Every minute of every day since it happened all he could think about was the way Sonic screamed at him. Told him he hated him. To go away.

Sonic was always smiling. Always happy, joking, and was the only person that ever put an effort in to getting to know him without wanting something in return.

The only person on the planet he actually felt...felt as if he mattered to other than just a weapon or a tool.

...and he fucked it all up.

Sonic reminded him of Maria so much...and now the hero hated him.

Sonic didn't even hate Eggman, after everything the doctor's done, but he hated Shadow.

Shadow was probably the only person he  _did_ hate.

...and there was no way to fix that.

So there was no point in trying. The only thing he could do was keep going the way he was and hope these next six months went by quickly and quietly.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Five - Unwanted Answers**

"You sure you're okay?"

Sonic waved the kitsune away, putting on the best smile he could -which wasn't really good in the fox's opinion- and giving him a thumbs up.

"Of course I'm okay! Just a little worn out from that G.U.N. mission is all," he lied, hoping he could slide passed the kid's lie detection. Tails could usually tell when he was hiding something, which sucked when he wanted to keep things secretive.

Like how he didn't actually go on a G.U.N. mission and was actually getting use to the first week of being sexually frustrated and attracted to his rival, who despised him with his entire being.

Tails gives him a look, one that said he didn't buy it, and shakes his head. "You've just seemed off since Uncle Chuck told you about the immortality thing…"

Sonic frowns, ears quirking back. "Well, it's just a lot to take in is all. I'm still thinking on it."

"You should still do the tests, just to be sure," Tails offers, giving him a small smile. "I think it would be cool if you were. I mean, we would never have to worry about anything happening to you like we always do."

Sonic rolls his eyes and chuckles, ruffling the hair on top the kid's head. "You guys would worry anyway."

"True," the fox chuckles, unable to deny it. "Would you," he starts in a more serious tone, "actually try to get rid of it? Your immortality?"

Sonic frowns, looking away. That...all depended on his issues with Shadow, really. If Shadow would rather him give up his immortality to break the bond, then he'd do it, because he didn't want to spend the rest of his eternal life with someone that would hurt him any chance he got. Besides, it would suck having to watch all his friends die while he stayed young and forced to live beyond their lives.

"I don't know," he admits. "Probably."

Tails frowns at him. "I don't think you should. I mean, you're the way you are for a reason, right? I don't think we should be messing with your energy in any way like that."

Sonic shrugs, avoiding his brother's studying look. "I still have to think about it. I'm not making any decisions anytime soon. I'll do the tests, though, because I want to know for sure."

The fox hums, before the two look up at the sound of footsteps in the doorway. Sonic felt a lump in his throat as his eyes fell on Sally, who smiled warmly at him.

"You couldn't stop to say hi?" she asks lightly, and he chuckles, scratching the back of his head.

He couldn't admit that seeing her would only put a hole in his heart, because no matter how much he loved her he couldn't be with her…

"I wanted to stop by and apologize for running out on Tails the night I left. I felt bad about it."

Tails rolls his eyes and smiles, leaving the lab room to give the two privacy. Sonic wished he hadn't.

Sally walks up to him, raising a brow at the inhibitors on his wrists. "I heard the news...how long do you have to wear those?"

Sonic shrugs, looking away and out the nearby window where the sun shone through. "As long as it takes for my energy to stabilize. I'm not really sure…" Another lie to add to his ever-growing list.

"So you're waiting to make a decision," she says quietly, sounding sad. He looks back at her, frowning at the look in her eyes.

"What would you want me to do?" he has to ask, has to know what she would want.

"I...don't know…" she mumbles, looking down. Her hair falls in her face, and Sonic notices that she seemed to be growing it out again, something she knew he loved. "One part of me wants you to keep it because I'll never have to worry about losing you...the other part of me wants you to grow old with me and…"

He felt like his heart was tearing in two. He should tell her...but no, if he did, it would only raise more problems…

"To be fair, I really don't know where I'm at with it, either," he sighs, crossing his arms. "I need time to think about this…"

"It's your life, your decision, and I'll support whatever you choose," she says, looking back up at him with a smile, and he has to look away, because it really hurts.

"Thanks, Sal," he mumbles. Why did his life always have to throw him through these loops?

He can tell she's trying to read him but failing as always. She was never good at it, and always got annoyed when she couldn't figure him out. It was always amusing to him, at least, any time but now.

"We're," she starts, grabbing his attention, "going to be having a meeting tomorrow to discuss possible locations Eggman could have run off to after the battle. You will be there, right?"

He looks back at her and smiles. "Of course. What time should I show up?"

"Meeting is at noon, but please try to be there early," she smiles back at him, "you know, you have a bad habit of being fashionably late."

He chuckles and swipes at his nose. "Just because I'm the fastest thing alive doesn't mean I have to rush everywhere."

"It means you should have no problem getting to the meeting on time," she pokes his nose chidingly, but with a smile on her face.

He tries to ignore the butterflies in his stomach, knowing it wasn't going to do him any good to keep playing around.

Unless of course he did give up his immortality. Then he could be with Sally all he wanted.

"I promise I'll be on time," he laughs lightly, holding his hands up innocently. "Cross my heart."

"I'll take your word for it I suppose," she smiles. "I have to ask, did you have any plans for the rest of today?"

Fuck.

Every particle in his being wanted to say no, but he knew he just couldn't, because that was too risky. What if he went into heat and had to bail? Being around her would also tempt him into telling her about the whole issue with Shadow, or wanting to get back with her…

"I...actually was going to get these tests done," he says with a weak smile. He hadn't really planned on it today, but he needed a good excuse to not hang out with her.

She seems disappointed, but takes it. "Nice, that way we can know for sure."

He nods. "Yeah, I'm curious to see if it's really true or not."

"Let me know how it goes then, okay?" she smiles. "I'm going to go set things up for tomorrow."

He smiles, feeling bittersweet. "Alright. I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

Rouge tilts her head as she watches the red guardian pace back and forth in front of the pulsating Master Emerald. He would pace, stop, look at the emerald, shake his head, and then pace some more.

"You okay, Red?" she finally asks, making him jump and look up to where she sat atop an old pillar above his head.

"Rouge! What are you doing here?"

She rolls her eyes and jumps down, landing gracefully in front of him. "Can't even ask how I'm doing," she huffs, but smiles at him nonetheless. "Am I not allowed to come see my favorite guardian?"

"You're just looking for trouble, is what you're doing," he looks away, muttering something about bats under his breath. She shakes her head, smiling knowingly.

"I'm honestly curious; you seem to be upset about something," she pries, knowing he'll go off in a rant.

"Something's wrong with the Master Emerald," he glowers, crossing his arms. "It's been glowing weirdly and is letting off distressed signals every so often."

She frowns and looks at the indeed glowing emerald, noticing it seemed to be a different shade of green than normal. "You have any idea what's wrong with it?"

"None," he frowns. "It's been doing this for the past few weeks, now. It's almost as if something is upsetting it, or it's trying to tell me something that I don't understand."

The past few weeks? She thinks back to Sonic and Shadow, wondering if the two could be having some effect on it. After all, they've been bonded for the past few weeks…

"Was this before or after the battle?" she asks, watching him furrow his brows.

"Right after."

It had to be those two, she thinks, but how and why?

"Have you seen or heard from Sonic?"

That startled her, and she turns and gives him a questioning look. "I have, how come?"

"Is he any better than he was last time I saw him? His energy, I mean," the echidna asks, and Rouge bites down on the inside of her cheek.

"Well...Tails made him some fancy inhibitors that seem to be helping in keeping his energy under control. His uncle thinks he's immortal."

Knuckles's eyes widen, before he looks back at the emerald. "That...wouldn't surprise me."

"They're going to be doing tests to see if it's true or not," she says, putting her hands on her hips. "There may be a way to take away his immortality if he really does have it."

"They shouldn't mess with that," Knuckles frowns. "If Sonic's immortal, it's for a reason. Unless it's going to hurt him, he should leave it how it is."

"Sonic might not agree with that," Rouge hums, watching his frown deepen. "He doesn't seem happy about it."

Knuckles crosses his arms, eyes still glued to the emerald. "I understand that, but he still shouldn't mess with it."

Rouge looks away, frowning to herself. Sonic seemed as if he already planned on going through with it, just to end the bond between him and Shadow. He might, if things between the two didn't calm down.

"He's thinking on it, giving it time," she says. "He's a little shocked from it is all."

Knuckles sighs, looking down. "As long as he doesn't do something stupid…"

Rouge wondered if the echidna knew about the Chaos Born. If he was smart enough to figure it out if he did know about it. She would keep her promise to Sonic and not tell him, but something told her he was going to find out eventually.

"It's sweet how much you care about him," she has to tease, making him roll his eyes and look away.

"He's my best friend, and I don't want to see him hurt himself is all."

"Sure, whatever you say, Knux."

If only Shadow could be like that.

* * *

He's nervous and he doesn't really know why. He's never been good with stuff like this, so when Uncle Chuck tried to get him to lay flat on the metal table, of course he tense up and nearly bolted.

"It's not going to take long, Sonny. Just a few scans and then you can go," Chuck tries in amusement, knowing to expect this kind of behavior from his nephew during the whole process. "You have to lay completely still for this to go by quickly."

Sonic frowns uncomfortably, glaring up at the scanner above him. "I know! Let's just get this done and over with already!"

Chuck could feel the sweat drop from the side of his head, and looking back at Rotor, he could tell the walrus felt the same way he did. Rotor just laughs, running a hand over his head.

"Alright, but remember, you have to stay still," he says, making Sonic's ears flatten in annoyance.

"I know!"

Deciding to just get on with it, Chuck turns and walks over to where Rotor sat at a computer, and the two started the scanning process.

Sonic jumped when the scanner made a loud whirring sound, a bright green light shooting down from it. With a scowl he closes his eyes, doing his best to stay still while the light went over him from head to toe, then back up. After a few seconds, a second light -this one red- went down from his head to toes again, then back up. A final blue light followed shortly after, before the green light came back on and went from side to side this time.

The process was followed by the other two lights doing the same thing, and by the time they were all done, Sonic felt like he just  _needed_ to get out of there.

"Now hold on, Sonny, not just yet. There's one more thing."

Oh, for the love of…

A bright light flashing from the scanner makes him jump and yelp in shock, squeezing his eyes tightly shut. Did they have to blind him?

"Don't move, Sonic," Rotor speaks up, making him grind his teeth together and groan loudly in displeasure.

Another flash, followed by two more, and he felt like he was really going to be blind. Even with his eyes closed he still saw the flashes.

"Done!" Chuck calls, and Sonic practically flies off the table, running over to the two, dusting himself off.

"It'll take a little while to analyze the data, and if we need to do more tests we'll let you know," Chuck says, ruffling the fur on top of the hero's head, making him scowl.

Pulling away, Sonic crosses his arms. "How long do you think it'll take?"

The two exchange looks, both shrugging.

"It depends, but hopefully not long," Rotor admits. "Don't worry; you'll be the first to know the results, Sonic."

Sonic frowns, feeling uneasy. Chuck must see it in his face, because he says something quietly to Rotor, before leading the teen out of the room.

In the hallway outside the scanner room, Chuck turns Sonic to face him and puts his hands on his shoulders. "You really haven't given a real opinion on this, Sonny, are you okay?"

Sonic looks down, playing with his gloves awkwardly. "I...don't know…"

He really didn't. This wouldn't be so hard if it weren't for the problem with Shadow...but even still it was a tough situation on its own.

"You have time, so take all of it that you need," Chuck says softly. "I know this is a huge thing, but we'll figure it all out. We don't even know if you are immortal for sure yet, so let's just see what the test results to, and go from there, okay?"

Sonic shakes his head. "I don't understand why I'm even like this, though. Mom and Dad don't even have any Chaos Energy in them at all, so why do I? I shouldn't, logically at least."

Chuck closes his eyes and sighs. "I...don't know, Sonny. You've always been different, but look at all the good that's come out of it."

Yeah, all the good, Sonic thought bitterly. This bond with Shadow wasn't good, none of it was. It was nice to be able to use the Chaos Emeralds; he couldn't imagine Mobius still being alive if he didn't have that ability, but did the price he had to pay for that ability have to be so high?

"I guess," he mutters, feeling selfish but tired of being selfless at the same time.

He feels his uncle pull him into a hug, and he sighs, closing his eyes.

"Sonic, I see everything you go through every day and it hurts, you know? I wish things weren't the way they were, and if I could go back, stop Eggman before he even started, I would, but I can't, and the consequences for my actions are falling on you. If I could take it all from you, I would. I'm sorry you have to go through all this," the older hedgehog says quietly, and Sonic swallows the lump that formed in his throat.

"It's not your fault, Uncle Chuck...you didn't know what would happen…" he mumbles.

"Maybe not, but it isn't fair to you," Chuck sighs, running his hand through the hero's quills. "You're just a kid, for Gaia's sake."

Sonic goes quiet, unable to find the motivation to respond to that. Normally he would try to make his Uncle feel better, but he just...didn't have it in him to. Maybe it was because he agreed with him. He was just a kid, and never got to be a kid, and now with this immortality...with this bond with Shadow…

He pulls back, turning to look away. "I'm fine," he says, hoping he didn't sound as choked as he felt. "Like you said, I have time, so...that's all I need…"

Chuck stares at him for a minute, before sighing again. "Sonny, talk to your parents. Ask them what's on your mind. Get it all off your chest."

Sonic frowns, looking back at him. "What answers should I be looking for?" Did his uncle know something? Were his parents hiding something from him?

Chuck gives him a weak smile. "I can't say, that's between you and your parents."

Sonic's frown deepens. They were definitely hiding something from him.

* * *

Shadow glances at his wrist communicator, frowning at the time. Sonic's energy has jumped up and down all day, but seemed to settle somewhere in the middle after every jolt. The last week went by surprisingly fair. He didn't talk or see Sonic outside of what Rouge liked to call their 'business,' and those moments were as brief as he could make them.

When Sonic announced he was going home at the end of the week, Shadow had been in the kitchen with Rouge, and felt something akin to...possessiveness build in his chest.

He hadn't wanted Sonic to leave.

Of course, he didn't admit that, but that's how he felt. Every second Sonic was gone his mind was on him, and he couldn't help it no matter what he did. He had the inner urge to just keep Sonic locked up in a room all to himself, and it was starting to freak himself out.

Why was he like this?

It had to be his energy, he had decided, and so he reread all the texts from Angel Island and found some interesting information.

Some Light Chaos Born suffered from something they called 'Chaotic Possession.' It occured when there was great resistance between the two Chaos Born, and the more negativity between the two, the stronger the Light Chaos Born would be affected.

His energy was taking control of him like a demon, making him act out and do things he didn't want to. Stop him from doing things he wanted to.

Like apologize.

For some reason, he just...didn't have the metal strength to fight it. Normally he would be against anything trying to control him, but…

He just didn't  _feel_ like it.

Putting his face in his hands where he stood in the middle of a shady woods, he rubs his eyes and takes in a deep breath.

It was like he wasn't even himself anymore.

Shaking his head, he lets his hands fall to his sides and frowns at nothing in particular. All he had to do was make it through this Season, and hopefully Sonic's immortality could be taken care of. That way the bond would break and they could go back to normal.

To rivals.

Something about that thought, however, made his gut twist and a feeling of dread creep through him.

* * *

Bernie looks up at the boy standing in her kitchen doorway and smiles brightly, putting down the baking pan and walking over to him to pull him into a tight hug.

"Sonic! I was wondering when you would come to see us!" she says happily, pulling back to look at him. He gives her a weak smile, turning to see Jules enter the kitchen from the hallway, who walked over, happy as well.

"Yeah, umm, I wanted to talk to you guys about something…" the blue hero starts, running his hand through his quills nervously, watching their expressions go from happy to confused and worried.

"Of course, son, what's up?" Jules asks. He could tell this was a serious matter, watching Sonic shift uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

"Um, has Uncle Chuck talked to you about my um...immortality?"

He guessed not by the looks of shock he received.

"What?" Jules asks before Bernie can, and Sonic takes in a shaky breath.

"Can we...sit down?"

* * *

"We had no idea," Bernie admits, watching her son play with his quills again; a nervous habit he's had his whole life.

"The thing is…" Sonic says, not meeting their worried gazes. "...it just doesn't make sense. Why am I like this? You guys...aren't Chaos Born. There's no way I should be. The last people to be Chaos Born were the Royal Family of Mobius, and they disappeared the same time all the Chaos Born were wiped out."

The two parents exchange looks, and Sonic looks up in time just to see them.

They looked guilty.

"What...are you guys hiding from me?" he asks hesitantly, almost not wanting to know.

Taking in a breath and closing her eyes, Bernie puts her hands together, giving her husband a questioning look. At his nod, she reaches for and grabs Sonic's hands, and the dread he's feeling grows because something about this is going to be bad and he knows it.

"Sonic, sweetheart… We had liked to believe we would never have to tell you this, but we always considered this could happen. You're a smart boy, and you put things together easily, so no matter what you would always figure things out on your own," she pauses, noticing how pale he was.

Jules takes over, seeing it as well. "Sonic, you are right to question why Bernie and I aren't Chaos Born. You see, we…"

...and he knows he should expect it but he doesn't want to hear it.

"...we're not your real parents."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Six - Breaking**

He feels like he's running through a spiral maze, where it's all falling apart around him, but it's pitch black and he can't see, so he doesn't know when he's going to just hit the edge and fall off to his death.

...not like he could die, anyway.

"W-What…?" he barely gets out, and the two people in front of him who he thought were family, give him looks full of so much concern it disgusted him.

"Sonic," Bernie says softly, running her thumb over his hands still in her hold, "you were given to us at only six months old. Your Uncle Chuck knew your real parents, actually worked  _for_ them before he and Jules worked for the Acorn family."

Sonic is at a loss for words as Jules takes over the explanation. "Your parents were the last Chaos Born to live on the planet, before they were found and sent away. When the Chaos Born were wiped out so many years ago, they weren't killed, but sent to another dimension. The Royal Family was strong enough to go into hiding without being found out, and they continued the family line as long as they could."

He could see where this was leading up, and let Jules continue explaining.

"Your mother's name was Aleena. She never said who your father was. You were the third child she gave birth to but the only one to survive. You were suppose to be a triplet, but your brother and sister, Sonia and Manic, did not make it from an incurable illness they obtained when they were a month old. When Aleena knew she was going to be caught, she gave you to Charles, and he gave you to us."

He, the fastest thing alive, couldn't keep up with what he was being told. His brain just couldn't process it all.

"You," Bernie begins quietly, "are the last Chaos Born on the planet, and have the blood of the Mobian Royal Family in you. It seems Chaos wants you here for a specific reason we don't know of yet."

No…

He couldn't take any more of this…

He just wanted a  _break._

He pulls his hands away from Bernie and pushes his chair back, not sure what he wanted to do but feeling like he just had to do  _something_.

"Sonic?"

The room felt like it was shrinking around him, and if he didn't get out he would suffocate. He pushes himself up to his feet, his legs shaking underneath him.

"Sonic, wait a minute," Jules calls, but he doesn't listen. He needs to get  _out_.

First the bond. Then he's immortal. Now his parents really aren't his parents and he's the son to the last Queen of Mobius that is now gone…

"Sonic-!"

He takes a step, and that's when his vision suddenly goes black and the last thing he remembers is his  _fake_ parents calling his name as he hits the floor.

* * *

She's just hanging up the phone with a certain panda when she steps in the kitchen, seeing Shadow sitting in his favorite spot: the large windowsill in the back of the room, cup of coffee in his hands as he stared out the window.

She leans against the doorframe, watching him until he looks over at her with a frown on his tan muzzle.

"You miss him?" she asks, causing his ears to pin back and him to turn his head, looking back outside. Walking over, she sits on the other side of the window, giving him a knowing smirk. "I can tell you do. Why don't you try to fix things with him? Sonic's a forgiving person."

"He hates me," Shadow stated simply, taking a sip of his drink. Rouge frowned, putting her hands around her one knee as she drew it up comfortably to her chest.

"Maybe because you won't apologize. He feels like shit, Shadow, and has a lot going on besides this bond. Any ease you can give him would quickly make him feel better about you."

"Doubtful," Shadow shrugs, finishing his drink and standing up. Rouge sighs, her fur bristling slightly in annoyance.

"You're so ignorant," she comments, making him glare at her out of the corner of his eye as he sets the cup down on the counter. "You're not going to fix things like this. Apologizing is better than nothing."

"Why don't you worry about your own problems and-..." he stops suddenly, freezing in place as if hearing or seeing something that she didn't.

"Shadow?"

His brows furrow and a deep frown curves his lips, and he looks over to the doorway of the kitchen.

"Something happened…" he murmured, almost sounding lost in thought.

"What do you mean something happened?" Rouge asks, quickly standing up. "Something with Sonic?"

Shadow seems to be trying to concentrate, looking down at the floor.

Why was he even caring? he asked himself. Whatever it was Sonic could handle it.

"Nevermind," he mutters, walking out of the kitchen, leaving the bat girl to stand there in utter confusion.

With a frown, she puts her hands on her hips, figuring she was just going to have to find out on her own.

* * *

Tails followed closely behind the chipmunk as they made their way to the room where the yelling was coming from. Chuck was behind them, panic etched on his face.

They could catch glimpses of words, none of them sounding good.

Sonic had never sounded so upset before.

"...why didn't you  _just tell me?!_ "

"Sonic, we promised to-!"

" _I don't care!_  I deserved to  _know!"_

Opening the bedroom door, they're greeted with the sight of Sonic barely able to stand, leaning back against the wall next to a bed, while both Bernie and Jules stood a few feet back, all three hedgehogs in complete and utter distress.

The most noticeable feature here, were the tears running down Sonic's face.

Sonic was crying.

All Tails could think of, is  _why_ was his brother crying?

Feeling suddenly super protective, the fox runs over to his brother and grabs his hand, startling the shaken hedgehog who looked at him with wide, glossy green eyes.

"What's going on?" Sally asks demandingly, getting over her shock at the sight before her. Charles pushes past her and steps in front of the three hedgehogs, holding up his hands.

"That's enough, alright! Back off and let him be for a moment," he tells Jules and Bernie, before looking back at Sonic, his voice softening. "Look, Sonny, I'm sorry we never told you, but your mother practically begged us not to with her life. We agreed we would only tell you once you started to figure it out on your own."

"His mother…?" Sally murmurs, and Tails frowns, studying the older hedgehog cautiously.

"Then how many other lies are you keeping from me?" Sonic asks, voice choked. "This isn't the first time you've done this to me! Why can't you just tell me everything and be done with it?!"

"Sonic…" Chuck starts, but the hero cuts him off immediately.

"No! If you're not going to just tell me everything than don't talk to me at all! I'm so sick and tired of everyone lying to me all the time!" he exclaims.

He slumps down to the floor, and Tails sits down next to him, wrapping his arms around him. Sonic doesn't care, just falls into the fox's embrace, because he just really needed it, and Sally takes that opportunity to speak up.

"Leave him with us," she says to the three hedgehogs across from them. "He obviously doesn't want you here right now, so just let us figure this out."

Chuck sighs, nodding in agreement. "Alright." Turning, he motions for his brother and sister-in-law to follow him out, and with worried looks towards Sonic, they hesitantly left.

When the door is closed, Sally walks over and sits on the other side of Sonic, hugging him as well.

"What happened?" she asks softly, and he shakes his head.

"They're not my parents."

What.

The two friends exchanged shocked looks, before looking back at the still-trembling blue hedgehog between them.

* * *

_Two Months Ago…_

" _Yo, Shads!"_

_The black and red hedgehog turns his head with a frown, seeing the flash of blue fade into the shape of a hedgehog, who stopped beside him with a smirk on his face._

" _What do you want?" he asks, not in the mood for conversation, especially from the obnoxious hero._

_Sonic chuckles and holds out his hands, revealing a black box with a red bow on top and a card taped to it. "Happy birthday!"_

_Shadow just stared. "What?"_

_Sonic rolled his eyes, giving him a proud smile. "Well, you see, when Rouge was going through stuff on the ARK back before we went Super and had that awesome battle, she found out when your birthday was, and so I decided to get you something for it!"_

_The biohog didn't know how to respond._

_Maria was the only one that ever celebrated birthdays with him. Gerald was never around for stuff like that. He didn't think he'd ever hear someone tell him happy birthday again in his immortal life, and yet here was Sonic, the idiot, doing just that._

" _Well don't just stand there; here!" Sonic chirped, shoving the box in his hands. He takes it, not sure how to process this, and only blinks when Sonic laughs at the look on his face. "Open it, faker!"_

_Shadow frowns, but does what he's told, and when he opens the box, he pulls out a brand new camera._

" _A camera?"_

_Sonic winks at him. "It makes it easier to remember things when you have a picture of it. This way you can keep your memories at hand, so you'll never have to worry about losing them again."_

_That...was touching._

_Almost too touching._

_One of his biggest fears was losing his memories again. It was a nightmare trying to figure out who he was and where he came from, and forgetting Maria was probably the worst of all._

" _You can record and take pictures with that camera, then upload it to a computer or wherever you want," Sonic explained. "Tails does it all the time."_

_Sonic...not only went out of his way to get him something for his birthday, but something with so much meaning behind it, it almost hurt._

" _...Thank you," he says quietly, and Sonic smiles brightly._

" _You're welcome, Shadow. I hope you enjoy it."_

He never opened the card that came with the camera. He...just didn't want to for some dumb reason. He's used the camera, he's actually used it a lot. He took pictures of nearly everything he could think of with it, maybe a little overboard with it. He took pictures of Rouge when she wasn't paying attention, and pictures of Omega, and pictures of the G.U.N. base, and pictures of Towers, and that human girl Topaz that Rouge loves, and the girl named Hope that looks like Maria, and the doctor's bases. He's taken pictures of his favorite spots on Mobius, like the woods near the Sapphire Sea, Holoska, and Adabat.

He only had one picture of Sonic. The one Sonic took with him when he showed him how to use the camera. He got the picture printed, and kept it in the box with the camera and unopened card.

Was he a bad person?

He didn't think so. Maria always told him he was meant to be the  _good_ in the world, but...was he?

No, Sonic was.

Staring at the picture as he laid on his back in his bed, he studied the blue hedgehog, from his bright cobalt fur, to the way the sun was reflecting off of his emerald green eyes, to the bright smile stretched across his muzzle.

Sonic tried to be his friend.

...and he fucked it up.

A knock on his bedroom door caught his attention, and he sits up, shoving the picture in his nightstand and frowning at the door. "Come in."

Well and behold, it was Sonic.

...Sonic looked like he had been crying.

He wasn't in heat yet, either, which confused him as to why the hedgehog was even here.

"I don't know…" Sonic murmured, "when my next heat is, and I didn't want to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when it hit, so…"

Shadow frowns, gesturing for the hedgehog to come in since he was already here, and Sonic walks in, shutting the door behind him.

He could feel it in Sonic's energy; something was seriously wrong. Whatever had happened earlier must have been bad, especially if it was enough to get Sonic to  _cry_.

He scoots over and lets Sonic sit on the bed, and the blue hero scoots so his back is against the wall, and leans his head back, closing his eyes.

Truth is, Sonic just wanted to be near him.

The blue hedgehog wasn't sure why, but after explaining the situation to Tails and Sally, he just...felt like seeing Shadow. Maybe it was because his energy was in distress because his emotions were, and vise versa, so he wanted that stability of his mate to help calm him down, or something like that. It was his best guess, but he was at least glad Shadow had actually let him come in.

He feels the bed move and opens an eye to see Shadow lay down on his back, the black and red hedgehog throwing an arm over his eyes.

He had the urge to lay down with him.

Shaking that thought from his head quickly, the blue hedgehog closes his eyes again and tries to relax.

It was after a half hour of just sitting there, that Shadow felt the bed move slightly, and when he looked over he saw Sonic slowly leaning to one side, asleep.

He acts on autopilot, sitting up to gently pull the blue hedgehog down to lay next to him, and wraps and arm around him. Sonic snuggles into him, and he feels warmth blossom in his chest, and it's pleasant.

He shouldn't be doing this...he thinks to himself. Sonic was going to be mad, but…

Closing his eyes, he decides that just this once was okay.

* * *

It was maybe an hour later when a jolt of Chaos Energy woke him up.

Sonic wasn't in the bed, but the bathroom light was on, door cracked. Getting up, he walks over and pushes the door open, seeing Sonic on the floor, knees drawn up to his chest and his face down and hidden.

"Faker," Shadow snaps, not meaning to sound as harsh as he did but unable to help it, making Sonic jump and look up in surprise.

Sonic's face was  _red,_ an obvious sign he was well into his heat, and Shadow kneels down, grabbing for his arms and pulling him up. Sonic huffs, letting Shadow pull him to his feet, as shaky as they were.

"You should have woken me up," Shadow says, reaching to pick Sonic up bridal style and carry him back into the bedroom. Sonic glared weakly up at him, his hands subconsciously going down to cover his crotch. There was already secretion dripping from in between his legs, making Shadow wonder how long Sonic had been in heat before he woke up.

"I didn't want to piss you off," Sonic muttered, making Shadow frown.

He doesn't have an answer for that, and just sets Sonic down on the bed and climbs over him, unsnapping the inhibitors on the hero's fawn wrists and tossing them aside. Sonic shuddered the moment they came off, unable to help the violent trembles his body suddenly had. The blast of Chaos Energy hits them both and Shadow loses it, leaning down to capture Sonic's mouth with his own, and Sonic grabs the blankets beneath him, heart racing and crotch throbbing.

Shadow was getting better at this.

Last week, they got into two fights right before they had to take care of Sonic's heat, and both times they threw each other around until they were both covered in enough scrapes and bruises to realize they needed to just take care of the issue at hand. He had been rough, but the times afterwards he was more gentle, took more care.

As long as they weren't both pissed off before they had to do this, they should be fine.

Shadow grabs his right thigh and spreads it open and out of the way so he can slide his knees in between the hero's legs, opening them wide enough to press their crotches together and make Sonic let out a weak moan. He rocks his hips, watching Sonic's expression as the cobalt hero gasped and arched his back, eyes squeezing shut and brows furrowing. Reaching under the younger's head, he grabs a handful of blue quills and uses that leverage to force Sonic's body to meet his own as he rocked into him again, wringing out another gasp and whine in reward.

He couldn't deny it any longer; he enjoyed this. Enjoyed doing this to Sonic. He knew his energy could make him feel that way, but it was just that, everytime they did this, he couldn't get enough. Like he could just keep going at this and never stopping, no matter how much Sonic wanted him to.

" _Shad-Ah~!"_ Sonic gasped out, feeling the finger Shadow had circling his entrance finally push in, curling and thrusting inside him with so much force his head almost hit the wall.

"What was that, Sonic?" Shadow hisses in his ear, making Sonic whimper and a shiver to run through his body. Shadow  _hardly_ ever called him by his name…

"I.. _-ah! Haahhhh…_ " Sonic meowed out, eyelids fluttering, unable to stay just open or just closed, mouth open and sweat dripping down the side of his face. He looked like a prize ready to be devoured, and honestly, he really  _was_ a prize.

Sonic, the strongest creature on the planet next to himself, who never surrenders or gives up a fight, broken beneath him in a shivering, panting, moaning mess.

He couldn't help it, he couldn't get enough.

He leans down and presses butterfly kisses across the hedgehog's neck, while adding a second finger to the action down in between strong blue thighs, making Sonic stutter out a moan and buck his hips, breath hitching followed by a soft whine.

Shadow rests his forehead against Sonic's, and they meet eyes; glazed emerald against fierce ruby, making warmth fill their chests like every time they had a moment like this, until Shadow spread his fingers, curled, and thrusted up, nailing Sonic's sweet spot.

" _Aahaaa!"_ Sonic cries out, hands clawing and back arching, eyes squeezing shut and a hot huff of air leaving him. He could have sworn he saw stars, the pressure in between his legs unbearable now, and he felt like he was just two seconds from going over.  _"Sha-Shadow...I-I'm-ahhhahhhAH!"_

He grabbed the hero's member and squeezed hard, making Sonic completely unfold, the hero screaming out as white overtook him.

Precum was dripping heavily from the submissive hedgehog's tip, and Shadow knew very well that Sonic was going to cum very soon, and was debating on if he should make him do it now and just fuck him after, or make him wait and drive him beyond insane.

He decides on the latter and presses his thumb heavily down on the hero's tip, making him groan in distress and jolt in his hold.  _"Shadowwww…"_

He pulls his fingers from the quivering male and repositions himself, grabbing those svelte blue hips and lifting them to meet his own. Sonic whined, panting loudly, body completely limp besides the trembles that shook him every few seconds.

Shadow only gives him a second to prepare before he's slamming in, hard and fast, making Sonic arch off the bed and writhe as a silent scream broke his lips.

" _Ahhhhhgodssss...I,"_ Sonic cried, wrapping his arms around Shadow's shoulders and burying his face into the crook of his neck.  _"Ah~I can't!"_

Shadow presses kisses along the hero's neck, before lunching his teeth into the sensitive flesh, making Sonic squeal and jerk in his arms.

He kept a hand on Sonic's member, knowing that the moment he let go Sonic was done for. He wanted this to last, as bad as it was. He was going to enjoy every second of this no matter how much his mind screamed at him to stop.

One thrust has Sonic tensing and meowling out, making it all the tighter around his own cock and causing him to keen, growling in a blue neck.

" _F-Fuck,"_ he huffs, voice hoarse, feeling Sonic shudder from it. The hero was just so hot, wet, tight…

" _Sha-"_ Sonic pants, fingers digging into his back, and Shadow can tell he can't hold it anymore. He rears back and thrusts forward, at the same time letting go and squeezing the hero's tip roughly, making Sonic cry out loudly beneath him. He curses as he cums, feeling Sonic tense up at the feeling, before he collapses on top of the shivering hero, both spent.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Seven - Making Plans**

When he woke up in the morning he felt like shit.

He had left Club Rouge right after he and Shadow were done with their...business, and went home knowing he was going to probably oversleep. Surprisingly when he looked at the time he saw he still had a half hour before the meeting, so he was just fine.

Well, he was fine until he stood up and his Chaos Energy hit him full swing.

Then he realizes in horror that he forgot the inhibitors at Club Rouge.

How could he  _not_ remember to put his inhibitors back on?! Curses start flying from his mouth as he dresses quickly, feeling heat travel through his body more and more the faster he moved. Hopefully he could just get to Club Rouge, grab the inhibitors and put them on before his energy really attacked him.

Well, using Chaos Control was out of the picture at this point.

He runs out of his house and through Mobotropolis in a blur of blue, hoping Sally would let him being just a few minutes late slide.

* * *

The club was completely closed when he got there, meaning Rouge and Shadow probably were at G.U.N. or something. He grabs the spare key from behind the neon sign next to the door and lets himself in, rushing to Shadow's room to grab the inhibitors. They were sitting in the bathroom, meaning he must have carried them in there with him when he showered and just left them there by accident.

He puts them on, feeling his energy practically whine at the restrictions, and sighs, leaning against the bathroom wall in relief, ears and quills drooping.

He looks at the time on his communicator, seeing he still had twenty minutes before the meeting, feeling slightly victorious at his timing.

He turns off the bathroom light and leaves, stopping to take a moment and examine Shadow's room. This was the second time he was actually in the dark hedgehog's room, as he usually stayed in one of the guest rooms upstairs when he stayed here. Shadow's room looked like it was originally supposed to be for storage, but was renovated into a bedroom with an added on bathroom. He didn't have much here, besides the bed, nightstand, dresser and small desk, and the medium sized cardboard box sitting at the foot of the bed taped closed. The room was relatively bare, with hardwood floors and grey walls, a small black rug in the shape of a circle on the floor next to the bed.

It was so bare you could almost mistake it for one of the guest rooms.

He wondered how often Shadow was actually here. Now that he thought about it, didn't Shadow have a cabin or something in the woods near the ocean? Yeah, that's right, he  _did_.

That place almost completely escaped his memory. Why have a guest room here if he had a cabin all to himself? Did he just like here better? That was unlikely; Shadow hated people, and this place was always filled with people when Rouge wasn't working at G.U.N. He couldn't see this being a place Shadow just hung out.

The cardboard box at the foot of the bed catches his eye, and he walks over, tilting his head at it. It looked new, unlike everything else in this room. Maybe he moved out of the cabin? Why? Because he had brought Sonic there?

That...sounded like something Shadow would do.

If he really wanted a place to himself, he would move if someone found out where that place was. Sonic understood that, at least. He was the same way. Shadow probably ditched the cabin because he wanted to set up somewhere that not even Sonic would know.

Shaking the thoughts out of his head, he reminds himself that he has a meeting to go to, so he turns to leave, when something catches his eye.

A picture on the nightstand.

He's stubbornly curious, so he walks over to investigate, and to his surprise, it's the picture he took with Shadow, back when he gave him that camera for his birthday. He picks it up, staring in confusion.

Shadow printed the picture out and kept it? It had creases in it, indicating it was folded quite a bit, probably carried or hidden somewhere, but why?

He's not sure what to think of it, but it makes him feel better.

Maybe Shadow didn't actually hate him, he thinks. Maybe that's just, how he came across.

...but if Shadow didn't hate him, why would he have…?

He shakes his head again. He really needed to get going. Besides, he shouldn't be hanging around in his rival's room, even if they were mates. He stares at the picture for a minute, wondering if Shadow would notice if it was gone…

Something tells him to  _take_ it. It was a strange feeling, one that said, 'You came here for a reason,' even if that reason was to simply get his inhibitors.

The feeling is strong, and with a frown, he folds up the picture and slides it in his glove, wondering why he was even listening to it.

He leaves, making sure to lock the club up as he goes, heading back to Mobotropolis at top speed.

* * *

" _INTRUDER ALERT: SECTIONS FOUR TO SIX"_

Robots exploded as the black blur came into contact with them, slicing them in halves and bouncing from wall to wall in a fury.

Rouge smirks as she flies not too far behind, Omega right on her tail obliterating anything Shadow missed.

"EGGMAN SIGNATURE DETECTED IN UPPER LEVEL," the robot informed, and Rouge gave him a thumbs up.

"Thanks hon. Shadow! Up a floor!"

The ball of spikes bounced off the wall at the end of the hallway, hit the floor with a thunderous pound, before it shot back up through the ceiling, metal sparking and pieces falling down.

Flying up through the hole to follow him, Rouge turns and watches Omega activate his jets and fly up to join them, and after sharing a nod, the two turn to see Shadow dusting himself off, the usual scowl on his face.

"He's not here," the Ultimate Lifeform stated simply, nodding to the control console, void of the doctor.

Rouge frowns, walking over to the computers to investigate. "He couldn't have left  _that_ quickly, unless he can teleport now."

"SIGNATURE STILL DETECTED IN IMMEDIATE AREA," Omega announces, the robot now walking around to scan everything in sight.

Rouge started trying to hack into the doctor's computers, while Shadow started helping Omega in looking around.

Ever since Dark Sonic completely demolished the doctor's latest plans, Eggman's been missing. The plan between the Resistance and G.U.N. was to find the doctor as soon as possible and take him in, yet both teams were coming up empty handed.

This was the third defeat Eggman suffered in a row by the hands of Dark Sonic. The madman was most likely going to start finding ways around Sonic's new weapon, because it was starting to become a real issue for him.

Shadow frowned. The thought of Eggman actually finding a way to knock down Dark Sonic gave him a terrible feeling in his gut.

Then he stops.

Dark Sonic…

If Sonic gave up his immortality, his Chaos Energy, while Eggman is trying to find a way to take out their strongest weapon; Sonic's dark form, then what were they going to do? It would be a huge risk and heavy hit towards the Resistance, and Shadow would be the only one -maybe besides Knuckles- that would be able to use the emeralds' power to take the doctor out, and as much as he didn't want to admit it…

...Super Shadow didn't stand a chance against Dark Sonic.

He looks over at Rouge, still at work, clenching his hands into fists. She was right, he needed to apologize.

' _ **No you don't.'**_

His ears fly up and he looks around, seeing only Omega and Rouge other than himself, and a chill goes through him.

' _ **You are more than capable of handling any threat. It's what you were created to do. The world doesn't need Sonic.'**_

Who...was saying that?

It was a distorted voice that didn't sound like a male, female, or robot. It was hard to describe, other than the fact that it chilled him out and…

It was right.

He blinks, rubbing his forehead.

Yes, he didn't need to apologize. Everything was fine. Sonic could do whatever he wanted. Shadow could very well handle Eggman and anything that attacked the planet.

What was he even thinking?

He looks up and sees Omega staring at him, and he raises a brow, silently questioning him. The robot turns his head, not saying a word.

What was  _his_ deal?

"Oh, come on!" Rouge exclaims bitterly, catching the two's attention. Shadow walks over, crossing his arms.

"You can't get in?"

The bat girl shakes her head. "No, no matter what I do. There's got to be good information on here if he's got it this locked up. I might not be able to access it myself. This is more of a job for someone like Tails." She then pauses, turning to look back at him. "You wouldn't mind going to get him, would you?"

"Are you serious?" he deadpans, glaring at her.

"Don't give me that look. This is our only chance at figuring out where Eggman is, and G.U.N. would take too long to figure it out. If anyone can get this going it's that foxboy, so go get him," she huffs at him.

The last thing he wanted was to go anywhere near Mobotropolis, but she was unfortunately right. With a scowl, he unfolds his arms. "Fine. I'll be right back."

With a mutter of Chaos Control, he's gone in a blue flash. Rouge sighs and turns to Omega, raising a brow at him. "Alright big boy, talk. What's got you looking at him like that?"

Omega doesn't look at her as he answers, scanning a wall. "HE IS EMITTING STRANGE ENERGY SIGNALS. HE HAS TWO DIFFERENT ENERGY SIGNATURES."

Rouge blinks. "Two? What do you mean it's strange?"

"HE SHOULD ONLY HAVE ONE ENERGY SIGNATURE: HIS OWN, HOWEVER HE IS EMITTING TWO SEPARATE SIGNATURES, ONE IS NOT HIS OWN."

Sonic, she thinks with a frown. This was the first time Omega has seen Shadow since the bonding, so that's probably what was it.

The robot however, continues. "HIS OWN ENERGY SIGNATURE IS CORRUPTED."

Rouge fully turns to face him, then. "His own? Not the other energy source?"

"THE OTHER ENERGY SIGNATURE IS STABLE, SHADOW'S IS NOT. SOMETHING IS NEGATIVELY AFFECTING IT, CORRUPTING IT."

That...sounded bad. The girl crosses her arms, leaning back on the control console. "How bad do you think it is? What's it doing to Shadow?"

"I DO NOT KNOW, HOWEVER IT COULD POSSIBLY CAUSE HIM TO ACT OR DO THINGS HE NORMALLY WOULDN'T. FINDING THE CAUSE IS HIGHLY ADVISABLE."

She forgot Omega knew a lot about Chaos. Tapping her fingers on her arm, she purses her lips. "Can I tell you a secret?"

He turns and looks at her, his silence his way of saying yes.

"That other energy source? It's Sonic's. Do you know about Chaos Bonds?"

* * *

Sonic jumped as he felt his energy spike suddenly without warning. Nobody seems to notice, but he sat up a bit more alert, frowning. His body was in an uncomfortable state between heat, thanks to his forgetfulness, and he knew the moment this meeting was over he was going to have to find Shadow or lock himself up in his room or something.

He just hoped the meeting went by quickly.

"We're going to split us all into teams in order to make the most progress," Sally was saying, pointing at a projector image on the wall behind her. They were all sitting at a round table in the meeting room, going over the plan. "We're going to have four different teams. Bunnie, Antoine, and Rotor, you're on Team A. Team B is going to be myself, Nicole, and Amy, and Team C, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles."

Sally actually making good teams? Sonic was impressed. She was  _learning_.

"Uh, not be rude but," he says, raising his hand with a lopsided smirk, "Knuckles isn't exactly here."

She rolls her eyes but smiles. "I called and talked to him already, he's going to meet you guys at the place I'm sending you to, which brings us to where each team will be investigating. I'm giving each team two locations to look through, places Eggman has a higher chance of hiding out. Follow any clues you can when you find them."

"You really think he's gonna go back to those old places?" Bunnie has to ask. "Ah mean, he's done it so often, and last time he wasn't near any of em."

Sally frowns. "Not all of these places are old. The past month Nicole and I have been searching all over for places of suspicion, not just old bases. Sonic's team will be the only ones visiting an old base."

Sonic and Tails share a look, while Bunnie perks up. "So what's so special 'bout these places?"

Nicole, who was sitting in a chair behind Sally speaks up. "Each of these places either give off Chaos signals or robot sightings in the area. If there's a chance of a Chaos Emerald, there's a good chance of Eggman nearby."

"It would be nice if we still had the emeralds," Antoine mutters under his breath, making Sonic bristle over in his chair.

"Sorry, I was unconscious, Ant," the blue hero speaks up. "Next time I'll just let  _you_ take care of the emeralds, cool?"

"Guys," Sally starts before Antoine can make a comment back. "The Chaos Emeralds being scattered was probably for the best. If they're out there, Eggman will make an attempt to grab them, and we can catch him that way. If we had them all he wouldn't have any reason to crawl out of wherever he's hiding."

Antoine glares over at Sonic as the hedgehog stuck his tongue out at him.

"Now," Sally says, pointing to the board again, "Nicole will be sending everyone to their locations. Sonic, the base you guys will be going to is unfortunately the one near Spagonia. Are you okay with that?"

Everyone could tell by the scowl on the hero's face that he wasn't, and for good reason.

That was the base Eggman had caught Sonic only a month ago and had him there for a few weeks, until the Resistance could break in there. Sonic never talked about what happened there, but they all knew it wasn't good. Getting in the base proved to be a nightmare, and they eventually needed the help of G.U.N. to actually get in there. Eggman at one point held Sonic at gunpoint, said if the Resistance even dared to step foot in the base he would blow Sonic's head off. During the rescue mission, Sonic went Dark again, and nearly destroyed the entire base and everyone in it.

"Yeah, why not?" Sonic shrugs, looking away. The only reason he could see Sally choosing his team for the place was because he himself knew that place well enough because of being locked in there, Tails was the one that did the most research on it, and Knuckles was the one that ran through the place holding an unconscious Sonic after his Dark form dissipated.

Sally gives him a worried look but nods. "Alright, then it's settled. The sooner we find Eggman, the better."

Everyone nods in agreement. Sonic feels another shudder go through him, and he frowns. His energy was really starting to jump at him, now. Odd, it felt like it was reacting to something in particular…

There's a knock on the meeting room doors, and Nicole goes over to answer it while the Freedom Fighters start to chat at the table. Sonic knew the moment she opened the door who it was, and why his energy was spiking.

 _Why_ was Shadow here?

Sally sees him the same time Sonic does, and calls for everyone to go. Tails walks over to where Sonic sat as everyone left the room, the hedgehog suddenly very tense, eyes glued to Shadow as he walks in.

"Shadow, what brings you?" Sally asks, confused. Shadow never came here unless it was something hugely important.

"Rouge needs Tails's help in hacking into a computer of the doctor's," he says, his eyes falling over to Sonic for a brief second. "Apparently she thinks she's found something, but she can't access it."

"Isn't that what G.U.N.'s for?" Sonic asks, the older brother in him not liking this. "Why can't she just take it to them?"

Shadow's eyes narrow slightly, and he glares at the hero. "It would take them far too long, and we don't have much time."

Sonic glares back, before looking over at Tails and raising an eyebrow. The two brothers seemed to have a whole conversation just by looking at each other, and Tails looks at Shadow with a frown.

"I'll help, but Sonic's coming, too."

Shadow feels a vessel pop somewhere in his head, but lets it slide.

"I don't care, let's just go."

Great, Sonic thinks glumly. Shadow was in a terribly bad mood.

With a wave to Sally, the three Chaos Control away.

* * *

Chaos Control was a  _bad_ idea.

Sonic had to make an excuse as to why he yelped when Tails gave him a worried look. Shadow was glaring heavily at the blue hedgehog, and when they got to where Rouge and Omega were, the tension between the two hedgehogs was almost noticeable.

Rouge looks up and smiles at both Sonic and Tails, her gaze lingering on Sonic just a bit longer before she called Tails over to the computer, the two immediately starting in their hacking process.

Sonic recognized the base they were in. This was the base he rode a missile all the way up and through the glass in the front, hence the giant hole there now. Eggman had been furious.

Another wave of energy and warmth ran through him, and he shudders, looking over his shoulder at Shadow, whose eyes were locked on him like a predator about to pounce. He could tell by the way the ebony hedgehog's quills were bristled and the slightly pinned back direction of his ears that Shadow could feel his heat, and it was really affecting him, too. Those ruby red eyes were tracing every curve of his body and he could  _feel_ it, like he was being burned just by being looked at.

He looks back at Tails and Rouge, the latter of the two looking up just as he asked; "How long will this take?"

Rouge seems to get what he's  _really_ asking, looking at Tails with a raised brow. The fox shrugs. "It could take a little while. Hopefully no longer than twenty minutes?"

Rouge winks and Sonic turns around, knowing Shadow would be right behind him. "I'm gonna go explore then, let me know when you're done!"

Tails calls a quick okay before Sonic and Shadow are gone.

Rouge looks over at Omega, who had watched both hedgehogs run off.

* * *

"Maybe you should - _fuck-_ not forget your damn inhibitors, idiot," Shadow growls into his ear, ramming his hips and making Sonic keen, hand over his mouth.

" _Ahhh..._ Well, I wasn't planning on yo-ah _haaa!_ You coming for a v-visit," Sonic argues back, ears pinning back.

Shadow had him pinned against a wall, blue legs wrapped around an ebony waist, the room they chose dark and filled with scrap metal all over the floor. The moment they had walked in, Shadow grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed him against the wall, not hesitating to start fucking the daylights out of him.

"This is still your fault," Shadow's voice was a growl, so low and menacing Sonic actually shivered because of it, whimpering when black hips snapped into his again.

Shadow reached up and grabbed the hero's muzzle, forcing him to meet his eyes. Sonic's mouth fell open, as if to argue back, but his back is grabbed by the biohog's other hand, forcing him to arch almost uncomfortably. Shadow thrusts  _hard,_ the angle the cobalt hedgehog is forced in giving Shadow clean access to his prostate, hitting it so hard Sonic can't stop the scream from leaving him, head falling back and eyes rolling, tongue falling out of his mouth.  _"Oh Chaos-SHAAADOW!"_

Sonic's reaction almost made him lose it right there. That pretty but annoying mouth opened in shock, those emerald green eyes glazed over, fawn muzzle pink and shiny from sweat, the way his voice broke when he screamed his name…

Sonic wanted to curl up and disappear. He hoped no one had heard him, otherwise he would never be able to live it down. He couldn't help it though, and the way Shadow was holding tightly onto his muzzle, his mouth forced open, he couldn't stop the cries and moans from leaving his parted lips.

His head is back against the wall, while the rest of him is being held by Shadow, and he's wondering how the Ultimate Lifeform can hold onto him so well like this. He wanted to move, but Shadow wasn't having it, not giving him any space or time to try and adjust.

The black and red hedgehog couldn't get enough of the hero's face, and he's thinking of that camera of his, and maybe the next time they fuck he's going to take a picture of Sonic like  _this_ , hang it on his wall to piss the hero off every time he sees it.

" _Ohhhmmmmahh...I…"_ Sonic moans out, hand covering his mouth again, making Shadow lean forward and bite those gloved fingers, growling. Sonic yipped and moved his hand, realizing Shadow didn't appreciate him muffling the sounds he was making, flushing darkly because of it.

They were both close, Shadow telling by the way Sonic was tensing up, and Sonic telling by the way Shadow's pace increased, leaning forward to put his face in his neck, teeth threatening to bite into already tender skin.

"Shadow…" Sonic pants, hands reach up to grab the other's quills, squeezing his eyes shut. The dark hedgehog growls in response, grabbing one of his arms and pinning it back against the wall, his other hand still holding onto Sonic's face, bringing his lips to meet those bruised fawn ones, and he thrusts one last time, making Sonic scream into his mouth, the two cumming at the same time.

* * *

"You find anything interesting?" Rouge asks, earning herself two murderous glares. Sonic's face was still red, and they looked like they had washed up in a lake and ran around to dry off, by the way some of their quills were out of place. Luckily Tails doesn't look up to notice, as he finishes downloading all the information onto two separate hard drives.

"Nothing," Sonic says through gritted teeth, making Rouge put a hand over her mouth to stifle her giggles.

"All done!" Tails chirps, oblivious to the two angry hedgehogs on the other side of the room. "I'm taking one copy, if you don't mind."

"Not at all, sweetheart," Rouge winks at him. "Don't know what I'd do without you."

He blushes and hands her the drive, before turning and running over to Sonic. Thankfully Sonic is able to pull his mask on quick enough before the fox can realize his sour mood. "You ready to go?" the hero asks, and Tails nods. "Good." He waves to Rouge and she blows him a kiss, not even glancing in Shadow's direction as he and Tails dash out in flashes of blue and yellow.

Team Dark is quiet, none of them moving for a moment, before Rouge addresses Shadow.

"I told Omega."

"What?!"

"I WOULD HAVE FOUND OUT ON MY OWN, ANYWAY."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Eight - Shadow's Challenge**

It had been awful.

" _Not so cocky now, are you hedgehog? What? No words to say? Don't be a sore loser, now."_

Sonic felt a heaviness on his chest grow as they walked up to the abandoned base, inwardly suppressing a chill that went through him. Knuckles wasn't here yet, and Tails was trying to cloak the Tornado a little ways away, so standing here by himself in front of a place he called  _hell_ was a bit unnerving to him.

He was trapped in here for about a month.

Every day it was something new. Eggman wouldn't let him live it down, and still brought it up to this day on how he was able to capture the hero and torture him for not only information, but for fun as well.

That was how Eggman was able to gather all seven Chaos Emeralds and build those ships that nearly destroyed Mobotropolis, because Sonic had told him where the emeralds were. He didn't mean to, he just wanted…

"Sonic?"

The cobalt mobian jumps and looks back and up above him, seeing Knuckles jump down from one of the tall trees around him. The echidna lands quietly next to him, his purple eyes studying him carefully.

"What's up, Knux?" Sonic forces a smile, hoping he sounded convincing enough. The guardian just narrows his eyes at him.

"Are you sure you're okay with going in there?" red has to ask. "I get it if you don't want to, you don't have to pretend it's fine."

Sonic looks away, face reddening in embarrassment and ears pinning back. "I'm okay. It's just another old base."

" _Sonic_ ," Knuckles tries, taking a step forward. "Look, at least if it bothers you too much, say something, alright?"

The Master Emerald Guardian was getting better at reading him. He really didn't want to go back into that base, but it was silly not to just because of what had happened there…

It...wasn't that big of a deal.

"Hey," Knuckles speaks up again, voice a bit softer. "Are you okay, though? Rouge told me about you possibly being immortal."

Sonic looks up, seeing the concern in his friend's face. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just a lot to take in, I guess."

The echidna frowns. "I know, but your energy doesn't feel right, and I can tell something's wrong. You forget I can feel energy, Sonic. I know you're not really as fine as you claim to be." When Sonic's face pales, the echidna adds; "You can't keep it all in forever. That's why you've been going Dark so much."

Sonic crosses his arms, looking away again to completely avoid the echidna's stare. "You don't know anything so just leave it be," he snaps without meaning to, which only makes Knuckles's point stand. "I'm fine, just got a lot going on right now."

Knuckles has to hold back his own snap in reply, knowing that it wouldn't do either of them any good. He's learned the hard way arguing wasn't the way to go. He steps around to face the hedgehog, who glared at him with narrowed green eyes. "I mean it, Sonic," he tries. "I'm here whenever you need me."

Something about those words put a lump in Sonic's throat. The hedgehog looks away again, face reddening. How many times has he thought about telling Knuckles about his bond with Shadow? The guardian was the one that could put the Chaos Block on him, and protect him if Shadow decided to hurt him again, but if he told him it would only lead to Knuckles flipping out and hunting down Shadow to kill him, immortal or not.

That wasn't something he needed to deal with right now.

"Hey guys!" Tails calls, and Knuckles watches Sonic's mask come up instantly, the blue hero turning to smile at his self-proclaimed little brother.

"You get the cloak up?" the Hero of Mobius asks, and Knuckles sighs, knowing this conversation would have to wait for a better time.

"Yup!" the fox chirps. "All set and done, and just in time it seems."

Knuckles nods at the fox in greeting, before turning to start walking towards the base. "Let's get this done and over with," he mutters, making both Sonic and Tails frown.

No one wanted to be here.

They enter through a large hole in one of the outside walls, a hole courtesy of Dark Sonic. The inside of the base was dark, and the trio walked with Tails in the lead, lighting up their path with a flashlight.

Metal was littered all over the floor, along with wires and old robot pieces. They were pretty sure they destroyed anything with an Eggman logo on it that moved, to avenge the hell Sonic had to go through while he was locked up there.

Knuckles walked behind Sonic, watching him carefully with every step they took. Sonic could tell and ignored him, the feeling of those dark purple eyes on him the entire time forced to the back of his head.

They turn down a certain hall, the main one, and Sonic nearly stopped, making Knuckles frown behind him.

_White rings were around both his wrists and ankles, and a final one around his throat. He kicked and yelled out at the robots dragging him, before they came to a stop outside the room at the end of the hall. He looks back and feels a chill go through him, Dr. Eggman looming over with a sinister, evil smile on his face, those black and red eyes filled with so much hate the hero could feel it._

" _Ah, what to do with you?"_

"Sonic?"

The hero jumps, looking between Tails and Knuckles, who were both watching him with worry.

"What?" he forces out, mouth suddenly dry, and they could both tell he was going through flashbacks, something Sonic had always had a bad time with. The hedgehog would get lost with one thought, and then doze off for minutes at a time, unknowing of the world around him.

"Are you okay?" Tails asks, seeing for himself that this place really was a bother to the Blue Blur. Sonic frowned, pushing passed both of them, crossing his arms.

"Of course I'm okay," he huffs, blue ears bent back.

Yellow and red friends exchange worried looks, but they both knew nothing they said was going to get across to Sonic.

They follow him down the hall, and he stops, glaring at the door at the end of it, before turning to look down the connecting hall.

Knuckles walked around, giving him a suspicious look, before stepping in the  _one_ room Sonic had wanted to avoid. Tails follows the echidna, looking back at Sonic with a worried frown. The hero eyed the room, before muttering something under his breath and following them.

The room was a mess, but it was mostly still intact. Sonic wished he had destroyed it.

It was Eggman's main lab, where he did most of his work and planning, and where Sonic was held the entirety of the month he was here. There was a large, white desk on one side of the room, surrounded by computer monitors and a control console spread over it. The chair was knocked down and laying on its side, and Sonic only passed it a glance before feeling sick.

" _You insubordinate rat!" the doctor had yelled, the hover chair falling over as he stood up, feet crunching over broken robot and kicking it across the floor. Sonic couldn't even smirk in the one victory he had since being here, as he was suddenly grabbed by the quills, dragged back-_

He shakes his head and watches Tails walk over to the computer, leaning against a nearby countertop. He tried to not look at anything other than his friends, but then Knuckles walked passed a large metal table across from the computers, bringing his eyes on it for only just a second.

_He was slammed down on the metal surface, head banging and sparking a migraine as the robots lifted him on it. He kicked and cursed the whole time, and then he heard the word 'restrain' and he lost it, screaming and cussing at the top of his lungs, threatening the robots and Eggman unlike nothing before. Those white rings he was forced to wear snapped like magnets against the table, nearly ripping his legs out of place as they yanked them down. Eggman walked around the table and stood at the head of it, so Sonic had to look back to glare at him. The hero froze when his eyes fell on the syringe in the doctor's hands._

" _Let's do some, minor_ modifications _, shall we?"_

Sonic shook his head again and grit his teeth. He really shouldn't be in this room, or in this base all together. Just the thought of this place made him want to vomit.

"Can you get in?" Knuckles asks, catching his attention. Tails frowns, connecting his Miles Electric to the computers.

"Slowly but surely, I think. There still seems to be some power running through the computer at least, maybe from a backup source somewhere…?"

"It's powered by a Chaos Drive," Sonic speaks up, walking over. Tails blinks, taken aback, watching as Sonic pulls a part of the desk apart and points. Like he said, there was a large, blue Chaos Drive connected to a series of wires, all leading into the computer.

"Oh, wow!" Tails exclaims, crouching down to further examine. "That's the biggest one I've ever seen!"

"How'd he get one so big?" Knuckles asks, frowning at it. It was heavily encased in some sort of thick glass container, so he couldn't even feel its energy.

"...me," Sonic mumbles, glaring at it. "It's made up of my energy."

Both friends look at him and notice the bitter look in his emerald green eyes, again sharing concerned expressions.

"He used you as a power source?" Knuckles asks quietly, to which Sonic looks away and nods.

"That was the plan. Why need the Chaos Emeralds when you have someone that's an unlimited energy source, is what he said," the Hero of Mobius mutters, ears flicking back. "He stole a lot of my energy to power this place."

Knuckles's brows furrow, the guardian crossing his arms. "That explains why it took you so long to lose your Dark form. You were powered up by everything you destroyed."

Tails looks back at the drive and frowns at it. "What should we do with this?"

"I'd take it and stash it somewhere," Knuckles spoke up. "That thing probably has enough energy in it to be considered a Chaos Emerald. I'd save it for if Sonic ever runs dangerously low and needs an emergency boost."

Sonic nods and Tails hums, standing up. "Good idea. Probably shouldn't mess with it before I access the computer, anyway."

"Be quick, so we can get that thing somewhere stable," the echidna frowns. "Last thing we need is it breaking right now."

Sonic chuckles dryly, throwing the piece of desk he was still holding aside, letting it clang loudly on the floor.

They all knew that if that drive broke while Sonic was anywhere near, the energy boost would be enough to put him in his Dark form, and they didn't need that right now.

It doesn't take long for Tails to get into the computer, bypassing the security for it relatively easy. The fox frowns at this, one large ear folding to the side. "Why would this computer be so easy to get into and that other one so much more difficult? Wasn't this his main computer? ...and the password is the same…"

Knuckles and Sonic both raise brows at each other before giving the mumbling kit questioning looks.

"What was the password?" Knuckles asks out of curiosity, and Tails's ears fold farther back.

"The numbers translate to 'Maurice.'"

The cold chill that went through him was so strong he expected to turn into ice. He felt his face pale and ears ring loudly.

Why would…?

Why  _that…_?

The room suddenly felt too small for comfort. He turns around without a word and leaves, taking off in a blur of blue until he was outside.

That nauseous feeling he had before doubled tenfold, and the moment he's at the first tree his knees are buckling and he's throwing up, dark energy rising from his blue fur.

Back inside, the two mobians stood there in complete and utter confusion. Tails looks over at Knuckles, who was stiff where he stood, eyes on the doorway that Sonic had run through.

"Knuckles?"

The echidna scowls. "Something about that name triggered something for him," he says. "Keep it in mind. I'm going to go see if he's okay; his energy certainly isn't."

* * *

He could feel the hero's energy from all the way where he was, and it didn't feel right.

Something was bothering Sonic immensely at the moment. It had started lightly that morning, but throughout the day he would get strange feelings in their energy, feelings that said something was really wrong with his mate.

It was distracting, to say the least. Rouge must have caught him zoning out because of it numerous times already, as the trio talked with Towers on what they had found, and headed off to the next location the G.U.N. Commander had for them.

They were running through a forest, headed to an abandoned base. Rouge checked her communicator, seeing them getting closer to their destination.

"Should only be a little further."

A sudden wave of Chaos Energy went through him then, and he cursed loudly, the energy in his skates buffering, causing his feet to hit the ground and his body to fall, sending him hurtling through the thicket. Rouge and Omega watched as Shadow curled instinctively into a ball, slashing through trees and shrubs as he tried to get himself to land as safely as possible.

When they catch up to him, he's sitting in a crouch on the ground in a clearing of trees, eyes narrowed and staring down, brows knitted together in concentration.

"You alright, sunshine?" Rouge asks, knowing she better ask  _before_ she laughs, because that had been the most amusing thing she had seen in her life.

He can hear the smothered amusement in her voice and chooses to ignore it, not wanting to take any more damage to his ego than he had already as he pushes himself up. Sonic's energy was flaring up and down like crazy, but it wasn't the normal feeling he got when Sonic went into heat, which meant something else.

No, this energy was negative, bitter, with a silver lining of fear in it.

Sonic was in the first stage of going Dark.

Why? What was bothering him? It had to be something bad, considering his energy already felt like  _this_.

Rouge frowns now, watching Shadow turn and look off in the distance, as if he could just see what was troubling him. "Shadow?"

Another wave of energy. Even Omega let out a beep of surprise as Shadow visibly cringed, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his fists.

Rouge takes a step forward, reaching for him. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Sonic," Shadow hisses out, before shuddering again. The other two members of Team Dark watch the biohog turn, only stopping to look back at them over his shoulder. "I'll meet you at the rendezvous point if I can stop him from going Dark. If not, the mission will have to wait."

He doesn't leave room for argument before he's gone in a flash of black and gold, leaving them behind to stare at where he had been standing.

"Sonic's...going Dark?" Rouge asks quietly, looking over at Omega.

The robot didn't have any answers for her.

* * *

_He's suddenly connected to wires and robots are holding him down on a metal table, and panic is overflowing because he's being restrained…_

"Sonic!"

_Eggman is laughing at him, mocking him and making fun of him. He steps around to the side of the table and grabs something that reflects in the light; sharp._

"Sonic, snap out of it!"

_Pain flares in his side as the metal touches him and he screams, turning his head away. A mask is put over his face to help him breath but it doesn't calm him any; only makes his panic worsen._

"I knew we shouldn't have brought him here!"

"I have the data I need from the computer. We can always come back another time without him."

"It was stupid of her to have him here to begin with."

_The noise in his ears are his own screams, and now it's of pain over panic. The robots are following instructions barked at them, and more pain follows. He can't see anything but a blinding white light and soon hears his ears ringing over his own yells. He couldn't move, couldn't fight, and Eggman's laughter is above all the chaos._

"Sonic, come on," Knuckles tries, gently shaking the midnight blue hedgehog trembling on the ground. After throwing up, Sonic had collapsed on his side, curling up into a ball, spikes up and sharp in defense. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was mumbling and screaming back and forth, holding his head as Dark Chaos Energy flared up around him.

The two friends give each other worried looks, and Tails lifts up his communicator to call Sally. Before he can even find her number, a flash of blue makes them jump and stare in surprise as Shadow appears out of nowhere.

"Shadow?" Knuckles exclaims, giving him a suspicious look. The black and red hedgehog recognizes the base, and his ruby eyes narrow sharply.

"We detected an unusual energy source in the area," he lies through gritted teeth, "but I didn't expect that to be Sonic. What the hell is he doing here of all places?"

Knuckles glares at the hedgehog, but crosses his arms and looks back down at the still shivering Sonic. "Sally asked us to come here to investigate any sign of Eggman being present. We hacked into his computer, and Sonic seemed fine and first, but something made him snap."

Shadow scoffs and kneels down next to the hero, noticing the vomit with a wrinkled nose. He turns Sonic and lifts him up, and as if on pure instinct, Sonic wrapped his arms around him and whined.

This caught them all by surprise, how clingy Sonic was to Shadow when he wouldn't even respond to Knuckles. Shadow frowns and focuses on the other's Chaos Energy, and tries to calm it with his own.

It actually seems to work, and Sonic's fur loses the dark blue aura and his quills fall back down. Sonic seems to faint into his arms, still holding tightly onto him.

"How did you do that?" Tails asks, very curious. Shadow's frown deepens, noticing Knuckles's suspicion was rising by the look on his face.

"Canceled out his energy with my own, since they're opposites," he simply says, figuring the kid would take it. Tails seems to light up, thinking it through.

"That makes sense. Positive energy always cancels out negative…" he mumbles to himself.

Shadow turns Sonic in his arms, which was hard by how the hero was holding onto him, and picks him up bridal style. He glares at the two friends again, for some reason feeling heavy spite towards them for bringing Sonic back to this place. What was wrong with them? Sonic was tortured here, in probably the most gruesome of ways. What in their right minds made them think taking him back here was okay?

He couldn't explain the protectiveness he suddenly had over the hero. He didn't want to give him back to them. He couldn't trust them with him. Sonic could have been hurt, or hurt someone else…

He feels reluctant to let his mate go as Knuckles takes him from his arms, the tension between the two as strong as an electrical current. They were both glaring at each other darkly, amethyst against ruby, and Tails noticed it, quickly speaking up before the two could start fighting for some unknown reason.

"We should get going back to Mobotropolis and let Sally know what happened," the kid says, carefully reaching for Knuckles's shoulder. "I want to go through this data, too."

"You're right," the echidna mutters, his glare lingering on Shadow for a second before he turns around, heading back to wherever the Tornado was.

Tails lets out a sigh, and meets Shadow's questioning eyes. "Thank you for helping us. It's a good thing you were nearby."

"I suppose it was," he mutters. "Now don't be stupid and take him back to anymore places like  _this_." Places like this, meaning don't take people back to the places they were tortured in.

He turns and leaves without letting the kid say another word, muttering Chaos Control under his breath and disappearing in a blue flash.

* * *

That night, he passes by Rouge, the bat giving him a knowing smirk, and into his bedroom. He sits on the bed, glaring at the door.

All day his mind was stuck on Sonic, almost Dark because those  _idiots_ thought-

He catches himself, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head.

He was worried.

It was hard to admit to himself, but he was worrying about Sonic.

He didn't want to think of Sonic taking orders like that. He didn't want to think of Sonic running into trouble like that, or being hurt, or something worse…

What if they didn't have this bond between them? Then he never would have known Sonic was in trouble and never would have went to save him before something bad happened. Sonic's Dark form was unpredictable. Anything could happen to him.

For the first time since it happened, he was grateful for the bond.

He leans back and lays on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

He cared about Sonic.

It wasn't anything new. It was something he realized he always felt but just never accepted it or even thought of it. He felt...so bad after what he did to him, despite what that strange voice keeps telling him.

His brows knit together in a furrow. He really needed to figure that voice out. Every time it spoke he listened, whether his morals were okay with it or not.

" _I told Omega."_

" _What?!"_

" _I WAS GOING TO FIND OUT ANYWAY."_

_Shadow glares at the both of them, crossing his arms. "What do you mean you would have found out anyway?"_

_Omega turns towards him. "I AM ABLE TO DETECT AND ANALYZE ANY CHAOS DATA. I KNOW THAT EVERY BEING THAT CAN USE CHAOS ENERGY HAS A SPECIFIC SIGNATURE THAT DEFINES WHO THEY ARE, COMPARABLE TO DNA. I KNOW YOUR SIGNATURE AND I KNOW THAT RECENTLY YOU HAVE DEVELOPED A SECOND ENERGY SIGNATURE, WHICH SHOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE BY ALL LOGICAL MEANS, UNLESS YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED A CHAOS BOND WITH ANOTHER CHAOS USER."_

_Shadow's frown deepens as he takes the robot's words with consideration. Omega continues, now with Rouge's attention as well._

" _WHEN SONIC ARRIVED I MATCHED THE SECOND ENERGY SIGNATURE WITH HIS, AND RECEIVED POSITIVE RESULTS, MEANING THERE IS INDEED A CHAOS BOND BETWEEN YOU AND HE. HOWEVER, THERE IS A THIRD AND VERY WELL HIDDEN ENERGY SIGNATURE IN BOTH OF YOU THAT SHOULD NOT BE THERE, THAT IS CORRUPTING BOTH OF YOUR ENERGY SIGNATURES."_

_Shadow blinks, and Rouge speaks up. "You don't know what it is?"_

_Omega makes a beeping sound. "SINCE THE CORRUPTED ENERGY SOURCE SEEMS TO NOT BE FROM SONIC, IT IS ASSUMED THAT IT IS COMING FROM SHADOW AND IS BEING SHARED DIRECTLY BETWEEN BOTH OF THEM. FROM MY DATA, I WOULD ASSUME IT IS BECAUSE OF THE SYNTHETIC CHAOS ENERGY THAT MAKES UP HALF OF WHAT SHADOW'S ENERGY IS."_

_Shadow scowled, looking away. Rouge only stared, slightly wide-eyed. "I forgot about that," she says softly, looking over at him. "You were made with both real and fake Chaos Energy because Gerald didn't have a real Chaos Emerald."_

" _FROM THE DATA I HAVE GATHERED ON SHADOW," Omega says, "THE SYNTHETIC OR FAKE CHAOS ENERGY IN HIS BODY IS THE REASON HE MUST WEAR THE INHIBITORS. THE SYNTHETIC CHAOS ENERGY HAS THE ABILITIES TO REVERSE THE POLARITY OF THE REAL CHAOS ENERGY IN HIS BODY, TURNING IT FROM POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE, AND SHADOW CANNOT PHYSICALLY USE NEGATIVE CHAOS ENERGY."_

_Rouge frowns. "So what happens to the negative energy? If he can't use it where does it go?"_

_Shadow looks over, all the of this slowly coming back to him if he remembered correctly. Omega confirms his thoughts._

" _BY LAW, ENERGY CANNOT BE DESTROYED, SO IT IS INSTEAD RELEASED INTO EVERYTHING AROUND HIM, CONVERTING TO WHATEVER ENERGY IT CAN. THE MORE POSITIVE ENERGY HE USES, THE MORE IS CONVERTED INTO NEGATIVE, ERGO, THE MORE IS RELEASED, ERGO, THE MORE HE LOSES. IF HE WERE TO PERFORM A CHAOS BLAST WITH HIS INHIBITORS OFF, ALL THE ENERGY HE USES FOR IT WILL CONVERT INTO NEGATIVE ENERGY, AND INSTEAD OF KEEPING IT LIKE HE SHOULD, HE LOSES IT. THE INHIBITORS PREVENT HIM FROM USING TOO MUCH ENERGY SO HE DOESN'T LOSE IT ALL."_

" _I get it," the bat hums. "So the more he uses, the more he loses…"_

" _NORMAL CHAOS USERS ONLY LOSE A SMALL PERCENT OF THEIR ENERGY WHEN THEY USE IT, AND THEY REGENERATE IT AT A VERY HIGH RATE. BECAUSE OF THE SYNTHETIC ENERGY, SHADOW REGENERATES AT ONLY EIGHT PERCENT OF THE RATE HE IS SUPPOSE TO, AND LOSES SEVENTY-EIGHT PERCENT MORE ENERGY THAN THE AVERAGE CHAOS USER."_

" _Oh my god," Rouge breathes, looking over at Shadow, who seemed almost disturbed. "That's why you fell from the ARK," she puts together._

" _...and Sonic was fine," Shadow finishes quietly. Forever he had questioned how Sonic could last as long as he did during that battle and why he himself suffered so greatly for it. Because he wasn't a normal Chaos Born. The answer was so simple it was almost disgusting._

" _What…" Rouge starts to Omega, worry evident on her face. "What's going to happen if it keeps corrupting their energy?"_

" _I DO NOT KNOW, HOWEVER THE SIGNATURE SEEMS TO BE MORE UNSTABLE WHEN SONIC ISN'T NEARBY. WHEN HE WAS NEAR, IT STABILIZED. MOST LIKELY BECAUSE SONIC IS A DARK CHAOS USER, AND CAN USE THE NEGATIVE ENERGY SHADOW RELEASES. FURTHER INVESTIGATION IS NEEDED, BUT IF CORRECT, THE SYNTHETIC ENERGY COULD BECOME A VERY VALUABLE TOOL FOR BOTH OF THEM."_

" _Ah!" Rouge exclaims, catching on. "So the energy would convert Shadow's into negative, which Sonic could use, and then if Sonic gives Shadow negative energy, then it can turn into positive, which Shadow can use! It's a never ending cycle of energy."_

_Shadow perks up, blinking in astonishment._

" _CORRECT. THEY WOULD ONLY LOSE VERY SMALL AMOUNTS OF ENERGY AND JUST KEEP RECYCLING THE SAME ENERGY BETWEEN THEM. THEY WOULD NEVER RUN OUT AND COLLAPSE FROM LACK OF ENERGY. IT WOULD BE A WAY FOR THEM TO FIGHT IN BATTLE WITHOUT WORRY OF ENERGY EXHAUSTION."_

" _See?!" Rouge chirps happily, skipping over to Shadow and throwing her arm over his shoulder. "This is probably why you and Sonic were bonded to begin with! If you two can work things out, think about how unstoppable you guys would be! You could probably even get Sonic to calm his Dark form down so he could use it properly."_

_Shadow thought back to how compliant Dark Sonic was with him, actually listening to him. That was the first time Dark Sonic actually stopped for anyone. Before he would just go on a rampage until he collapsed. He did also notice how he didn't seem to be losing much energy around Dark Sonic before they used the Chaos Control that binded them._

_Gerald had to have planned this, this seemed too perfect, he thinks with a frown. That didn't explain why Sonic was immortal or anything, but if Gerald knew about the Chaos Bonds, knew that Shadow would bond with a Dark Chaos Born one day, he had to know about this._

_They were right; if he and Sonic worked things out, then they could take down any threat that came their way. They'd be unbeatable._

_...that was if he and Sonic could work things out._

He highly doubted they would.

At least at the time he did. He needed to straighten up and apologize, try to make things right.

" _ **No you don't. Stop telling yourself that."**_

It was that energy again. It had to be.

' _Shut up,'_ he tells it.  _'I make my own decisions. No one tells me what to do.'_

" _ **He hates you. Get over yourself. It's never going to work out between you."**_

He sits up, glaring at the far wall like it was the one speaking to him. It was like the energy was not only converting his energy into negative energy, but his thoughts into negative ones as well.

Chaos  _was_ powered by emotion, so he supposed that's what was linking it together.

He only closed his eyes and took in a deep breath.

' _I'll prove you wrong.'_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Nine - I Just Want To Say**

Sally gave the group guilty looks. "I knew I shouldn't have sent you guys there," she was saying directly to Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles of the group. "I'm sorry."

Sonic shrugs it off and looks away, crossing his arms over his chest. His feet were propped up on the oval table the Freedom Fighters were sitting at, while Tails sat next to him with his Miles Electric in hand. Knuckles sat on the other side of Sonic, giving Sally a small glare.

"We did find information," Tails speaks up quietly, holding up his device. "With it I was able to find five Eggman bases around Mobius that we've never seen or been to before."

Sally nods, looking back at Nicole, who showed the map Tails was speaking of up on a projector screen. "That's right. With this information we can now start investigating each of these bases, scouting them out."

Nicole speaks up, gesturing to Bunnie. "Bunnie's team was able to find one of the Chaos Emeralds, giving us now two." The rabbot girl smiles and winks between herself, Antoine and Rotor. Nicole continues, smiling gently towards Team Sonic. "Sonic, you will be keeping the emerald. We're putting you and Tails in charge of searching for the other emeralds. Knuckles, whatever you wish to do is on you."

The echidna shrugs, leaning back in his chair. "As long as we don't know where Eggman is, he's even more dangerous. I'll stick around and help look for the emeralds."

Sonic feels something akin to irritation from his friend's words. As long as Knuckles was around, the chances of him finding out about he and Shadow only rose. As much as he appreciated the Master Emerald Guardian actually sticking around to help out the team, he wished it had been any other time than now. He hoped Knuckles would stick to being solo and work on his own.

"We appreciate that," Sally smiles to the ruby male, before continuing on. "While Sonic's team is searching for the emeralds, I'm going to assign each of you to a base to scout out. Do  _not_ go into the bases or attempt anything more than a scouting of the area. We can't afford anyone else to get kidnapped."

She says that, but it's mostly for Sonic. They're all still shaken up from the whole event, as it had been the darkest thing the doctor had ever done. Sonic himself looks away, brows furrowed, feeling bitter.

As the meeting went on, Sonic dozed off to think of yesterday. He hadn't meant to black out like that and nearly go Dark. He was even more surprised when he awoke this morning and Tails told him Shadow had been in the area and used his own energy to stop the transformation.

He felt agitated and crabby, and wanted nothing more to do with anyone. He was fed up of being around people and at this point, felt as if he was picking up on Shadow's attitude.

He didn't want to start acting like him, but he couldn't help it. He was tired and wanted to be left alone. These past few months had been the worst of his life in a long time.

He suddenly feels a warming sensation in his gut, and his Chaos Energy starts to flare up slightly. He nearly curses out loud and shifts in his seat, pulling his legs off the table and crossing them tightly.

 _Not now, dammit,_ he thinks, feeling his headache only grow. Couldn't his heat wait until  _after_ the meeting? He could feel Knuckles's eyes on him and he ignores him, clenching his teeth together until his jaw hurt. He could feel it coming on fast, and if this meeting didn't end right this second he was going to lose his mind.

Sally seemed to just be finished telling everyone what their own tasks were, before Nicole held a hand up to her ear and excused herself quickly. Sally continues on with the meeting, only slightly confused.

Sonic wanted to die. He put his face in his left hand and leaned on the table, hoping his blush wasn't obvious. His other hand was in his lap, and his foot was tapping impatiently.

Nicole appears a minute later with a perturbed look on her face, walking up next to Sonic while Sally was still talking, leaning over to whisper in his ear; "Shadow's here, said he wants to see you for some reason. The meeting should be over in just a minute, but he's outside the door."

Sonic blinks in only slight surprise at her. "You know what he wants?" he asks quietly, having to pretend like he didn't know. Oh, he knew very well, but he didn't think Shadow could sense his heat that quickly, or arrive even faster.

Nicole shakes her head, frowning. "He didn't say, just that he needs to see you."

"Hmm," Sonic looks away. "Okay then."

Nicole walks back over to help Sally conclude the meeting, and Sonic happens to glance back at Knuckles, who was giving him a demanding and questioning look. Sonic shrugs and makes an 'I have no idea' expression, hoping the guardian takes it.

Would Knuckles find out? Did he suspect? He doesn't know, and doesn't stick around to find out before he hears Sally say everyone is dismissed, and gets up faster than anyone could blink and heads out the door in a flash of blue. He nearly collides with the black and red hedgehog, who almost seemed startled from his sudden outburst.

"Let's go,  _now_ ," Sonic hisses and Shadow nods, grabbing his arm and whispering 'Chaos Control' under his breath, the two disappearing with a flash of green.

* * *

" _Oh, gods,"_ Sonic whined out, back arching and fingers clawing the sheets. Shadow huffs as he rocks his hips forward again, burying his face into the crook of Sonic's neck, breathing in the strong scent his heat was emitting and wanting to drown in it. They both came at the same time, panting in each other's mouths and shaking uncontrollably.

Sonic's heats were happening stronger and faster than they were before, and if it continued at this rate, then they were going to have problems keeping this a secret.

Pulling out to lay beside the blue hero, Shadow runs a hand over his eyes and pinches the skin between them. Sonic subconsciously scoots closer to him and grabs his other arm, closing his eyes and giving out a shaky sigh.

They're both quiet for a few minutes, before Shadow has to ask; "Why did you go back to that base?"

Sonic lets out another sigh, this one less shaky than the one before. He shrugs. "We had to get information on Eggman from it. We weren't going to be there long, anyway."

"Long enough," Shadow huffs, making Sonic look up at him with narrowed eyes. "You knew it would be bad."

"No, I didn't," Sonic argues, now openly glaring back at him. "I thought it would be fine."

"Well then you're stupid," the Ultimate Lifeform states matter-of-factly. "If you seriously thought you could go back without suffering any sort of post traumatic-"

"Shut  _up_ ," Sonic interrupts, ears pinning back. "For Gaia's sake just drop it. If you think you wouldn't have done the same thing I did then  _you're_ the one that's stupid."

Shadow opens his mouth to say some sort of argument back, but then stops himself. Sonic was right, and he couldn't deny that. He'd go into every single lab room of the ARK just to get the answers he needed if he had to of, even if it killed him.

There's an awkward, tense silence that follows. Shadow eventually breaks it by sighing himself. "Just don't do anything st-like that again. You keep reverting into your Dark form and the Doctor is going to find a way to fight it."

The chuckle Sonic lets out is very...ominous. It kind of sounded like the voice his Dark form has. "Yeah, right," he mutters. "Eggman knows better than anyone he can't do shit against Dark. He won't even try because he just knows."

Shadow's eyes widen. Did...Sonic really just say that? He sounded almost...proud of his Dark form. How could he just assume that Eggman wouldn't try anything about it? Unless he knew something no one else did, he couldn't possibly believe Eggman wouldn't try to overpower it.

"Do you really believe that?" he asks, frowning. "He can't take over the world if you're always in your Dark form, but if he finds a way to defeat it-"

"He can't," Sonic glares at him again.

Shadow frowns at him. "Then what are you going to do when you give up your immortality, then? Won't you lose your Chaos Energy?"

"I…" Sonic stops, brows furrowing as he looks down in thought. That...was the plan, right? Give up his immortality by giving up his Chaos Energy, then the bond between he and Shadow would be broken and they wouldn't have to be tied together anymore.

Something about giving up his Chaos Energy started to bother him.

Was the bond with Shadow really that bad? Did he have to give up so much for it?

...and Shadow was right. If Eggman threw everything he had at them, thinking he was going up against Dark Sonic, then without said form, they would be screwed.

Thinking about these things made his stomach hurt. Made his head hurt. He didn't want to think about it, and just keep running until he was forced to make that decision.

"I don't know yet," he mumbled. "I don't really want to think about it now."

"It's something you  _should_  be thinking about," Shadow closes his eyes, shrugging.

"What does it matter to you?" Sonic snaps. "You want me to give up my immortality anyway so you don't have to deal with me anymore. You even considered killing me."

Shadow feels a sting in his chest, and opening his eyes, he's met with fierce emerald green ones. Once again Sonic had him at a loss for words. He wasn't wrong, but, it hadn't been him thinking those things. He didn't even want to rape Sonic, his energy forced him to.

It reminded him that he needed to apologize, but Sonic was already sitting up, changing the subject before he could get the words out.

"We need to figure something out about Knuckles, though," the blue hero was saying. "He's been giving me the stink eye, so I wouldn't be surprised if he suspects something."

Sitting up as well, Shadow frowns, running a hand through his quills. "We just need to avoid each other as much as possible, then. Until we find another meeting place, just show up here when you go into heat."

"Then stop showing up before I have a chance to," Sonic stands up, turning to face him. In just a second however, the hero blinks and holds his head, nearly falling over with a quiet groan. He catches himself on the bed, making Shadow practically jump up in confusion and unadmitted worry.

"What's wrong?" he tries to reach for him, but Sonic pushes him away, glaring again.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Just stood up too fast," he mutters, slowly turning and heading for the bathroom. Shadow watches, crossing his arms with a frown.

Something was obviously wrong, but Sonic wouldn't share that with him.

The hatred in Sonic's tone towards him was getting more and more noticable. He wonders if it has something to do with the negative energy cycling through him making it worse than it already was. He knew Sonic was still angry with him, probably forever until the end of time, but now he was having a hard time hiding it.

He didn't think Sonic could hate anything or anyone. Hell, he didn't even hate Eggman, after everything the man has done.

...but he hated Shadow.

Probably despised him.

Loathed him, even.

" _ **I told you. It's never going to work out between you two. You should just give up before you even start."**_

He holds his head, growling to himself.

' _Don't even start with me. I can fix this, I just need to figure out how.'_

The voice laughs and he curses it.

He couldn't help but feel it was right.

* * *

The hedgehog throws a harddrive on the mad human's desk, fixing his glasses as he sauntered passed it. "There. I've helped you, now can you take this stupid thing off?" he turns around, pulling on the metal ring around his wrist.

The doctor laughs under his breath with a sinister grin curving his lips. "Aww, you thought I'd just let you go after doing a couple errands for me? My boy, you must be smarter than that. Don't you realize you're my prisoner?"

The moebian snarls at him, stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets, stomping one of his feet against the metallic floor. "This is  _bullshit_ fat man! I swear to  _gods_ I'm going to kill you when this is over!"

Eggman just laughs again, turning in his chair with the harddrive in hand, feeding it to his computer through a large slot in the front. "That's what they all say, but alas, I'm still here am I not?"

Scourge's lips pull in an angry scowl, one of his eyelids twitching. He didn't mean to be caught by the scientist like this. Eggman came to his world proposing a shot at Sonic, and so he hesitantly agreed. He didn't expect to become the man's personal servant.

He still had no idea what Eggman wanted particularly with him. Didn't he have robot's that can do this dirty work? Why did the fat man need  _him?_

Oh well. He turns and shrugs, kicking a nearby metal trash can with a loud clang. He'd play along until he had a chance to break free. He could probably find his own way of taking off the metal ring on his wrist - the ring that could and would supposedly kill him with electric shock if he were to disobey.

"Oh, well isn't this interesting," he hears Eggman chuckle.

Turning and raising a curious brow, he quietly walks over to peek on what the doctor was talking about.

Both of his brows raised up, eyes widening as he lifted up his glasses, trying to decipher if what he was seeing was real or not.

"It's unfortunate for them that I keep all cameras in my old bases active at all times," Eggman snickers.

The harddrive came from an abandoned base he had sent Scourge to. There was camera footage up on the screen.

...and that was footage of Sonic and Shadow.

 _Fucking,_ in the old base.

Eggman breaks out into laughter again, turning off the footage and turning in his chair. "I knew those idiots would bond their Chaos Energy when Sonic went Dark," he continues to laugh.

"That...was real?" Scourge exclaims, mind boggled. Eggman grins.

"The reason I brought you here, is because the energy you use, Anarchy Beryl, has this... _unique_ ability to manipulate Dark Chaos Energy," the doctor explains, getting Scourge's attention. "Sonic, is made of almost nothing but Dark Chaos Energy."

The Anti's mouth fell open as if in understanding. Eggman continues, pointing back in a gesture towards the camera footage.

"Because Sonic is Dark and Shadow is Light, their Chaos Energy has unwillingly bonded, especially against their will. I need this bond to go as wrong as possible. If Sonic is upsetted enough, he's going to go through a process to get rid of his Chaos Energy to break their bond, making him extremely vulnerable."

A slow grin then curves across Scourge's muzzle, and he puts his glasses back over his eyes. "Oh, so you need someone to jump in on their parade and make Blue as miserable as possible. Why didn't you just say so in the beginning?"

Eggman nods, leaning back in his chair. "If Sonic's energy is taken from him, I'll be able to defeat him easily. The game will be over. You will find soon that your Anarchy Beryl has a natural attraction and ability to bend Sonic's to your will. Do what you want with him, but I need him broken so he gives up."

Scourge dusts himself off and flashes a devious smirk. "Not a problem, baldy! Pissing off Sonic is one of my favorite things to do. It'll be easy."

"Good," Eggman smirks. "Then get to it. The sooner he's decided the sooner I conquer the world."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Ten - Falling Into Place**

Shadow raises a brow at the irritated look on Rouge's face, letting the fridge close on its own as he opens his water bottle. "What's wrong?"

She was currently sitting at the white, round table in her large kitchen, her pink laptop in front of her. She looks up at him, giving him a tired smile. "Nothing at all. Everything's just wonderful."

He rolls his eyes at her sarcasm and walks over, pulling out a chair to sit next to her. She points at the screen, eyes narrowed.

"So I'm guessing Eggman found out we hacked into his computers, because he sent a virus that completely erased everything. All I have are my notes I took," she explains, scrolling through said notes. "...and it isn't much."

Shadow frowns as he skims the information, his eyes landing on a set code of numbers.

"What are those coordinates?" he asks, putting his water bottle on the table.

She shrugs, opening up her map. "That's what I was trying to figure out. I opened up a folder labeled 'S' and that's the first thing I saw. When I went to write them down and came back the virus was already in and I lost it." She types the coordinates into the map, and it zoomed in on a location in the Mystic Ruins. She looks over at her comrade, raising a brow. "Wanna go check it out?"

He nods. "A better lead than nothing."

She mock gasps, putting a hand over her mouth. "What was that? Optimism? You can tell how much time you've been spending around Sonic."

He glares at her, stands up, and pours his water over her head.

* * *

"You called?" Sonic frowned, stepping in the lab room. He nearly panics when he sees Knuckles look up at him, wondering what the hell he was doing here, before he looks over at his uncle, Tails, Sally, and Rotor.

Uncle Chuck is the first to say anything, giving his nephew a nervous smile. He hadn't talked to Sonic since the...whole event with Bernie and Jules, so seeing him now was…

"Hey, Sonny. So, we figured out that there really is a way to take away your immortality before it's settled," he explains.

Sonic walks over, crossing his arms and standing as far from Knuckles as he can, finding himself next to Sally. "And...the catch?"

"You shouldn't do it," Knuckles sighs, shaking his head. "You'll lose your Chaos Energy, Sonic. You practically live off of it. You wouldn't be a Chaos Born anymore." When Sonic blinks in surprise, Knuckles adds; "That means no Chaos Emeralds. You wouldn't be able to use them.  _You wouldn't be able to go Super Sonic_."

Something about that sent a sting through his chest, and he looks away, ears bent back. He felt sick hearing that, and a chill soon followed down his spine.

To lose Super Sonic…

That...was too risky. Super Sonic was practically the planet's last defense anymore.

...but…

He shrugs, looking down. "Shadow has a super form," he practically mumbles. "He's more than capable of taking my place in that situation."

The room goes quiet, everyone exchanging worried looks.

Knuckles shakes his head again, taking a step closer to him. "Sonic, you were born this way for a reason, why mess with it? I know never aging is probably going to be hard, but do you really think you should go against that?"

Sonic shrugs again. "I still haven't made up my mind. I just...want the options I guess."

"We can still build the machine to do it," Rotor offers quietly. "You don't have that long of a choosing period. By the time we finish it it'll be then or never."

"Why is that?" Sonic asks, an ear quirking back.

"Sonic, your energy is slowly taking over everything about you," Chuck explains. "By this, I mean that your body is slowly converting from Mobian, to simply nothing but Chaos Energy. I'm not sure why this is, but it seems almost like it was meant to happen. We started to notice this a little while ago, when Dr. Quack took blood from you." When Sonic's eyes narrow suspiciously, he chuckles. "You were unconscious, and we were trying to see why the painkillers weren't helping you. When Dr. Quack examined the sample, he discovered that half of your blood at the time was pure Chaos Energy."

"So...what? What happens when it's done?" Sonic asks, scowling slightly. "When I'm completely Chaos Energy?"

"It seems you'll still be yourself, just…" Rotor starts, looking over between Tails and Chuck.

"You'll be an embodiment of Chaos," Chuck explains. "Just a pure source of Chaos Energy. You'll practically be a living Chaos Emerald."

"With the energy of all seven," Knuckles adds. "Sonic, seriously don't go through with this. I don't think this is a good idea."

"I said I haven't decided yet," Sonic glared at him. "I have some time? I'll think about it. I don't know what I want yet."

"This is so stupid," Knuckles mutters, turning away, while Chuck nods.

"Then we'll get to work. Right now you're at a eighty-six percent Chaos Energy rate. Once you get to one hundred we won't be able to do anything about it."

Sonic just nods, turning on his heels to leave. He glances at Knuckles, who frowns deeply at him, before leaving. Sally follows him, the two walking down the hallway out into the living room area of Tails's workshop. Stopping, he turns and raises a brow at her.

"Do you think it's worth it?"

She frowns at his question, not sure what he means. "To give it up?"

He shrugs, looking away. "Either? If I don't, then I'll be able to keep protecting the world without worry of dying. If I do, then I won't have that ability. I'll practically be useless."

"Maybe not useless," she says, walking to stand directly in front of him, grabbing his hand, "but it'll make things riskier. Without your energy to heal you, you'll take damage like a normal person would. No more Super Sonic, or even your Dark form…"

"So, useless?" he asks, unable to help the small grin that curved his lips.

She rolls her eyes. "I'm not a Chaos Born but I still find a use for myself, don't I? You'd be fine."

"The planet wouldn't be," he frowns then. "How can I trust someone else to take care of the issues that require a super form? Especially someone like Shadow…"

He kind of feels bad saying it. Shadow wouldn't let the world come to end, would he?

"Sonic," Sally sighs, looking down. "Honestly...I...I want you to give it up. I don't like the thought of you living forever, always with the responsibility of protecting the entire planet like you do. I've also always wanted you here, with me, and if you're immortal, that won't happen, would it?"

Sonic opens his mouth, before closing it immediately after with a frown.

It wouldn't.

Especially not with his bond with Shadow.

"...but," she starts again, "if you're immortal, I would never have to worry about you dying…"

"So you don't know, either," he suggests with a quiet sigh. She nods.

"That's why I said I'm for whatever you choose, Sonic," she says sincerely. "Either way will bring some good, some bad. I just want you to be happy."

. _..to be happy…_

Was he?

…

Looking away again, he runs a hand through his quills. "I'll...just have to think real hard on it then. In the meantime, we should find Eggman."

She nods. "Nicole has all the suspected Chaos Emerald locations, if you wanted to start hunting them down."

The Hero of Mobius nods. "I need something to do."

* * *

Sally had suggested going with him, but he told her he needed space to think. She understood, despite the sadness evident in her tone when she said it was fine.

What was he supposed to do?

He really didn't...hate the thing with Shadow. It wasn't... _that_  bad, was it?

He could never tell. He really would feel safer if he stayed immortal, for the sake of the planet, but Sally…

He loved her so much, still.

...and then to have to watch all his friends die around him, leaving him alone…

He couldn't bare the thought.

He slows down his run to a stop, standing in the middle of a thick woods, frowning down at the ground.

...there would never be enough time for him to make this decision, would there?

Would he be selfish for giving it up? To stay with Sally and his friends, even if the world burns because of it? It reminded him of his fight with Sally sometime ago…

To choose the world over her. Over everyone.

Was it worth it?

When did he get a chance to live his life the way he wanted? Did he have to suffer an eternity, always fighting for everyone but himself?

...then there was little thought about losing Super Sonic. Losing that power, that ability. Super had a place in his heart that he couldn't shake.

Then there was Shadow…

What would Shadow do?

...why couldn't he have just been oblivious to all of this? Why did he have to make this decision?

If only he had more control over his Dark form, none of this would have happened in the first place.

...but then the city would have been destroyed.

He lets out a frustrated growl and jumps, kicking a nearby tree in aggravation. It cracks down the middle, wood splintering everywhere, but the tree still somehow keeps itself standing.

That's what he felt like. No matter how hard he was beaten, he would always have to keep standing.

He never could have a break.

Maybe that's what was truly appealing about giving up his immortality. He wouldn't have to be the hero that throws his life in the line of others to protect them. He would just be...normal.

As normal as he could be, at least.

...but it would be a chance to think about settling down.

...maybe even marry Sally…

He didn't understand why he felt so guilty...

* * *

A flash of aquamarine erupted in the the clearing of forest trees, scaring birds and small animals away. Two hedgehogs fell from the light, landing in crouches on the green grass. They both stand up, looking around with frowns on their faces.

"Is this it?" the silver one asks, turning to the blue hedgehog in uniform, who was pulling up a holographic map from his wrist device.

"It is, but our timing is slightly off," he answers, sighing and turning off the device. He lifts the visor covering his eyes over his blue quills, scowling at his companion.

"H...How much time?" the white hedgehog asks, voice wavering. The blue hedgehog sighs, looking away.

"We're an entire month off," he says exasperatedly, "which means it's already happened."

Silver's mouth fell open. "Are you serious?!"

The other sighs, nodding. "Unfortunately. Apparently this was supposed to happen in the Prime Universe. That means we have to find a way to fix it as it is now."

The white hedgehog's lips pull in disgust as he turns away, kicking a small rock away. "That's just not fair!" he exclaims. "We should have been able to save him!"

"Fair or not, it happened for a reason," the blue hog steps up to him, grabbing him by the shoulder and turning him around. "This is still the Prime Universe, so that means it was going to happen no matter what. Now we just have to make sure we get the Chaos Drive, find Scourge and take care of him, then get to Sonic and Shadow and fix this mess."

Silver takes in a deep breath, closing his eyes and pushing the hedgehog's hand away from him. "I know, I know," he mumbles, looking up. "I just don't want anything else to happen to Sonic. Now that I know what he is…"

"Let's just focus on the now," the other interrupts. "We still have time, so let's not waste any more of it."

"Thanks, Zonic," Silver turns from him, nodding. "You're right. We've got this."

Zonic turns and points to their east. "The base should be over here. Let's get to it."

* * *

The two agents exchange looks as they step into the old, dusty cave. Shadow is the first to walk in, surveying the limited surroundings with a scowl.

Eggman had definitely been there, but all that evidence was destroyed by black stains where flames had destroyed the place. Crouching down, the Ultimate Lifeform feels the soot on the ground with his index and middle finger, brows furrowing as he brings his hand up to study the embers. "This was done recently."

Rouge steps passed him, where large pieces of burnt metal were laying in a melted pile. "You're right," she hums, putting one hand on her hip and another to her chin. "You think he did it to cover up something?"

"I wouldn't doubt it," Shadow stands, dusting his hand off on his leg. "If he knew there was a chance of us coming here, he would have destroyed it immediately."

The albino bat turns, hands falling to her sides. "Well, we might as well look and see if he forgot anything."

Shadow nods, the two splitting to explore the small cave. He doubted they would find anything; the doctor was smart. He probably had the cave self-destruct the moment he realized his computers were hacked into. Stepping around a fallen sheet of metal and over to a pile of broken robot parts, he leans over dig through it, not finding anything useful. He stands up to turn back around, when his ears started ringing, and he suddenly went lightheaded.

The sound of him falling over startled Rouge who was on the other side of the cave, and she came flying over, quickly kneeling by his side and turning him so his head was laying back on her knees. "Shadow?" she asks, slight panic in her tone. "Shadow are you okay?"

He holds a hand to his head, his vision swarming. He could barely make out her figure holding him slightly upright, and her voice sounded faded to him. He could only let out a groan, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to feel what was causing him to feel like this.

It felt like he had taken off his inhibitors and let out a ton of energy in one go. There's a faint, throbbing pain in the front of his skull that's reverberating through his entire head, and he can barely feel the tips of his fingers or toes on his feet.

"Shadow?" Rouge tries again, running a hand through the quills on top of his head. "Talk to me, hon; what happened?"

"M-My energy," he forces out, opening his eyes again. Those scarlet irises of his looked foggy, as if he were in the midst of waking up from a long sleep.

He was starting to slowly feel better, his hearing and sight coming back to him. Rouge just frowns, concern visible in her eyes as she watches him try to pull himself back together.

It doesn't take much longer for him to recover. He slowly sits up, holding his head with a perplexed frown.

"Did it just, drain out?" Rouge asks, trying to figure him out, still. Shadow looks at her, nodding.

"It's fine now. I don't know what that was. It wasn't Sonic," he states, for sure on that one. That was just his energy draining randomly out of nowhere.

His female friend only purses her lips in thought, before she floats up and offers him a hand to his feet. "Let's look around for a bit more and see if anything in here caused that, then."

He takes her hand and lets her pull him up, blinking a few times to get a grip back on reality. He felt fine now, which was almost even more confusing than him collapsing just a second ago.

A couple hours later and they don't find a single thing in that cave.

* * *

Sonic stops, glaring at the device on his wrist that Sally had given him.

The supposed Chaos Emerald was just gone.

He couldn't even feel its energy anymore. It was like it just upped and vanished into thin air, which meant someone snagged it really fast, or Shadow was nearby and found it.

He couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that he was being watched, however.

He needed to get out of these woods, he decides, and so he takes off in a flash of blue, speeding through the trees in the direction of a large field nearby.

He doesn't even have time to glimpse it before a sonic boom goes off somewhere on his right, and he's being hit by a flash of green.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Eleven - And Everything Goes Wrong**

The two exchange frowns as they step into the abandoned base, Zonic turning a light on his headset to illuminate their path. They could tell someone else had been here recently, based on the three different sets of footprints on the heavily dusted floor. They knew who it was, based on their timing, and both couldn't help but feel guilty at being so late to get there.

"The Chaos Drive should be in this room at the end of the hall," the Zone Commander explained as they headed to it cautiously. Silver gives him a curious tilt of his head, hands behind his back.

"So, does Sonic know?"

The blue counterpart sighs. "No, not yet. If we can get this timeline to go down the right path, then he'll most likely find out sooner than later. I can't imagine the Master Emerald Spirit or even the Light Chaos hiding it from him for much longer."

Silver blinks, eyes widening slightly. "Was he supposed to know?"

Zonic stops, frowning as he looks down at the ground. "Sonic lost his memory at a very young age, due to a tragic accident involving the six Chaos Emeralds. He has no recollection of any of his childhood, or what he is and how things came to be as they are. His family hasn't told him any of that yet."

"Do they even really know, though?" Silver questions, brows furrowing. "They know he's the royal heir to the Mobian throne, but do they know any more than that?"

"Sir Charles knew both King Circe and Queen Aleena," Zonic crosses his arms, "so it wouldn't surprise me if Jules did, too, unless this was something Charles had sworn into secrecy. I'm sure Charles knows everything, but he's been keeping it to himself because he knows it isn't his place to say anything."

Silver frowns deeply, looking down. "I still don't understand, that if both Sonic and Shadow are immortal, where are they in my time? I know the future of my world depends on them now, but…"

Zonic studies the young teen with almost sympathy. "You...do realize that, when you fix this prime timeline completely, one of two things are going to happen?"

Silver looks up at him in confusion. "What's that?"

Zonic looks almost uncomfortable saying this, which seems uncharacteristic for the stoic hedgehog. "Either your timeline will vanish completely, since it is part of the prime universe, or it will become its own timeline." He pauses as he watches Silver's face drop completely, feeling sorry for the kid. "Although, even if it vanishes, you'll still exist."

"Wait, why?" the white hog exclaims, blinking in surprise.

The zone cop let his hands fall down to his sides. "Zhadow scanned you while you were at the HQ. Apparently you're not from that timeline at all."

Silver felt himself freeze. "Not...but...what?"

Zonic can only shrug. "We don't even know. I have him investigating what time you're actually from."

Silver only stares blankly at him. He wasn't from his world? His time? So that means...someone brought him there too young to remember...but why? Did they know this was his destiny? To fix the prime universe?

"We need to get moving," Zonic says quietly. "Look, you've helped us a lot, and I appreciate everything you're doing for Sonic. We owe you more than we can express, so whatever answers you need answered, we're willing to help anyway we can."

Silver looks up at him, smiling almost sadly. "T...Thank you. Although…" he starts again, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly as he follows the zone cop. "I wouldn't have even known had that  _other_ Sonic not tell me."

Zonic's brows furrow. "Did he explain why? Calling you into his dimension is one thing, but telling you all this…" he trails off, looking over at his companion suspiciously.

Silver only shrugs, just as clueless. "I have no idea, but he seemed really upset. I guess they caught the Shadow of his dimension, and they're talking about execution."

"Guilt, then," Zonic looks away. "He's older, wiser than he was before. He most likely realizes what he did wrong and why it needs to be fixed. He probably couldn't bare the thought of the prime universe following the same route his did." He goes quiet a moment before adding; "I can't seem him killing Shadow, however. Take his immortality away, maybe, but he's too good for that."

Silver just looks at the door they approach, watching Zonic slowly push it open. "I'm going back to see him after this is over, to let him know we succeeded."

Zonic nods, looking back at him over his shoulder. "That's a good idea. It'll give him peace of mind. He'll be able to move on."

They drop their conversation as they both step into the room, eyes falling on the computer console in the center of the room. They both go over to it, Zonic kneeling down to examine the large, dark Chaos Drive still connected to it.

"Good to know Miles-Prime is just as forgetful as my version of him," he deadpans with half-lidded, exasperated eyes. There was slight amusement in his voice, however, and he reaches in to unplug the wires from the drive's glass container.

Silver purses his lips, rocking on his feet as he decides to ask the question that's been on his mind since meeting Zonic. "Umm, if you don't mind me asking...are you and Zhadow...uhh…?"

Zonic flinches, hitting his head on the top of the desk with a loud thump. He turns and glares back at the now fidgeting hedgehog, who immediately regretted asking.

"We're not supposed to be together, no," he huffs, turning back to getting the drive. His cheeks were lit up with pink, however, and his statement couldn't have been any more daft.

Silver raises a brow, carefully stepping to the side to get a better view of what Zonic was doing. "...but, are you?"

The Commander's mouth pulls into a thin line as he unlocks the glass casing. He reaches for a large metal canister on his belt meant specifically for the Chaos Drive, putting in the passcode to unlock it. It takes him a minute to answer, but he eventually sighs and mutters a curse under his breath before he does.

"We are. I'm pretty sure the only universe where a Sonic and Shadow are that don't have romantic ties to each other, no matter how big or small, is the Anti-Mobius."

"Scourge's world?" Silver asks, as Zonic puts the dark drive into the canister. The cop nods, standing up as the container sealed with a beep.

"Yes. The Anti-Shadow and Anti-Sonic hate each other with a passion, however the Anti-Shadow isn't too far different than his prime counterpart," Zonic explains as he hands Silver the canister.

Taking it, Silver tilts his head. "Why's that?"

Zonic shrugs. "Shadow is someone we call a Neutral. His characteristics and personality make his anti almost nearly identical. Same as Knuckles. The only difference between them and their counterparts is their morals, and even they aren't too far different."

Silver hums, saving that information for future reference.

As they step out of the room, Zonic holds up his wrist to check his device. "We have the canister. By these timestamps, Scourge should be on the move. We have to get to the Emerald Forest to-"

A sudden explosion right in front of them cut him off, hitting both hedgehogs and sending them flying back into the room. They cough as they scramble to their feet, holding their hands up to block the smoke from getting into their face.

...and then Metal Sonic is charging straight into Zonic.

"Zonic!" Silver turns, about to help him when a laugh all too familiar echoes in the empty building, making him turn and glare at the man behind it.

"OH, ho ho ho!" Eggman has a snide, devious grin on his face as he steps into the room, holding a strange remote with his hands. He watches Zonic struggle to keep his arms locked with Metal, glasses gleaming in the dim light. "I'm afraid I can't let you progress any further, gentlemen. Can't have you ruining this for me."

"Silver! Get to Sonic!" Zonic calls out, before activating the jets on his boots and grabbing Metal Sonic, spinning and hurling him at a far wall.

Silver nods, an aquamarine glow engulfing him as he prepares to take off, but before he can Eggman is pressing a button on his remote, and a portal opens up beneath him.

"What the-!" the white hedgehog doesn't even get to react before he's falling-

"Silver!" Zonic flies over, but doesn't make it before the portal is closed.

Whipping around, he glares angrily at the now laughing scientist, fists clenched tightly. "Where did you send him?!"

Eggman's teeth practically glow as he smiles. "Oh, you know, somewhere far enough away to prevent him from becoming a bother." He steps around the zone cop, not facing him as he examines the old lab room. "You see, I can't have you two ruin this perfectly good opportunity to finally win this wretched war. I get to break Sonic, and take over the world.  _This_ is what I've been working so hard for."

"You do realize what that'll do, right?" Zonic growls. "It'll be the end of the prime universe. Everything will fall apart, including you! There's no point in all of this-"

"Blah, blah, blah, blah…" Eggman cuts off, turning around with a bored expression. "You think I care about that? I know I'm doomed in the end anyway, but that's not the point. It's all about the  _game_ , my dear boy. If I'm going down," he grins almost demonically, "I'm taking the universe  _with_ me."

Something slams into Zonic at that moment, knocking his head into something hard, and he blacks out immediately.

* * *

Sonic flips in mid-air, rightening himself with a scowl. Only one person had that green streak and speed like that, and it was the last person he ever wanted to see at this particular moment. He lands in a crouch, fists clenching as he watches Scourge stop in front of him, smirking as cocky as ever.

"Sup, Blue?" the green hog asks, putting his hands in his jacket pockets. He could barely make out those icy blue eyes studying him from behind red shades, seemingly tracing his body up and down. He felt suddenly extremely nervous all of a sudden, his Chaos Energy flaring up almost immediately. It was as if it just knew this guy was trouble, but there was also a feeling of 'get the hell away from this guy as fast as possible' screaming at him.

"How did you get out of No Zone?" Sonic asks, voice monotone. He didn't want to stand around or near this guy any longer than he had to. He was getting bad vibes,  _really_ bad vibes.

Scourge shrugs, taking a few steps forward. They were quite a ways apart, but it didn't feel like it was enough for Sonic.

"Oh, you know," the green hog replies almost casually. "Fiona got herself arrested, helped me bust out, then we took off to settle some scores with that Finitevus dude," he explains, eyes still tracing Sonic's from. "Afterwards we went back home, then I was offered a good deal to come back and kick your ass."

Sonic scowls, putting a hand on his hip. "A good deal from who?"

The green anti raises a brow. "Not as talkative as you usually are, babe. Somethin' wrong?"

Those bad vibes grew immensely. Sonic had the same, strange but unpleasant feeling he got, back when he walked in Club Rouge one time and had an irritating exchange with a drunken wolf. The guy had backed him up into a corner, trying to flirt and force himself over him. Sonic, truly innocent then, had never been in such a situation and became overly flustered, not knowing how to handle the scenario. Shadow had been the one to drag the guy out and teach him a lesson, much to his relief, despite how ironic that turned out to be.

The same feeling he had then that he was in danger, he once again had now, and the way Scourge was slowly making his way over, attempting to appear as nonchalant as possible, only made it stronger.

"You didn't answer my question," he replied, eyes narrowing. "Who made you what deal?"

As Scourge takes his hands out of his pockets, he notices a strange metal device around his right wrist. It had a red light on it that looked suspiciously ominous, as if it were some kind of restraining device. He doesn't get to examine it better, since the jacket sleeve covered it as soon as Scourge put his hand on his hip, copying the blue hero's stance.

"The Egg-douche wants me to capture you for him," Scourge explained, a small smirk on his muzzle. "Hold you for a bit before he comes and grabs you for himself."

Sonic can't help but scoff. "For what? Since when did you let Eggman boss you around?"

Scourge shrugs, kicking his feet around in the dirt. "He's got something good for me in return. I mean, I get to keep you for a while; that's something, ain't it?" He grins as he takes another few steps forward, almost a foot away from Sonic now. When he spoke next his voice was lowered to a tone that was nothing but predatory. "He said I get to do  _whatever I want with you_ till then. Not a bad deal at all, if you think about it."

 _Run, run, run, run,_ was all that went through Sonic's head at that moment. Something was seriously wrong here. His energy was flipping upside down, as if it was somehow reacting to Scourge. That shouldn't be possible, but…

...wait…

_Anarchy Beryl._

He could feel it. It...felt as if it was trying to attach to his dark energy, as if it was trying to latch on to it somehow…

What was he doing? What was his game, here?

Sonic glares at him, turning and crossing his arms defensively. "You do realize he's got you wrapped around his finger, right? Eggman doesn't make deals with anyone. He's using you, and you should know that."

Scourge grins. "He's not coming for you for a while, babe. I get my end of the deal before he even does. Hell, I might not even hand you over."

Sonic felt his heart jump into his throat.

He needed to leave.

He needed to leave  _now._

Why was Scourge even being like this? He knew exactly where this was going, and he didn't like it at all.

"I doubt that's it," the hero huffs, turning and taking a step back. "I don't have time to be dealing with this. I have enough bull to deal with right now."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Scourge grins, speaking in a mocking tone. "Did I catch you at a  _bad time?"_  he asks, putting a hand on his chest.

Sonic felt every nerve in his body freeze on end. Why was he…? Did he…? "What are you talking about?" he asks, his irritation heavily noticeable in his tone. Scourge's grin only grows.

"You don't have to act all secretive, Blue," he teases, hopping forward suddenly and throwing an arm around Sonic's shoulders. The cobalt hedgehog jumps and tenses up, glaring darkly at his green counterpart as he gets in his face, voice even quieter now as if he were trying to be overly dramatic. "I know all about you and Stripes," he pokes Sonic in the chest, watching the hedgehog's eyes widen, his muzzle paling. He could practically see the cold sweat on the side of the hero's head. "I got to see for myself when I got those cameras for the old doc. Ten-eighty-p, HD view of Stripes banging you against a wall."

Oh no.

Oh,  _fuck no_.

Sonic felt his soul leave his body. This was beyond bad. This was an absolute  _nightmare_. Eggman and Scourge were probably the  _last_ two people in the universe he wanted to know about the bond with Shadow.

He needed to leave.

He needed to leave right that second.

He pushes Scourge away from him and takes a couple steps back.

"That-that's not any of your business!" he exclaims, face turning a deep shade of red. Scourge only grins at him.

"Maybe you should be more careful where you spread your legs, babe. There was like, five different cameras in that room. I got five different angles of that!" he laughs.

Sonic felt petrified. "Sh-Shut up! I don't have time for this…" he growls the last part, turning on his heels and taking off in a flash of blue.

He doesn't make it far.

A sudden flash of heat shocked through him, making him cry out and skid to a stop, dropping to his hands and knees. His vision was swarming, and he could feel his heat suddenly leap into effect, as if whatever had happened to him just activated it without mercy. A shudder convulses through him, making him cringe and cross his arms over his chest.

"Sorry, Blue, but I gotta take ya," Scourge walks up from behind, as casual as before. He stops next to the now growling hedgehog, kneeling down to grab his chin and force him to meet his eyes. Sonic's face was red, and he was now visibly sweating and shaking, with his quills raised defensively and ears pinned back angrily. He looked like a hot mess.

He never considered Sonic to be that attractive to him, or at least, attractive enough to want to fuck the daylights out of him. Then again, they looked practically the same, and he of course thought himself to be the most attractive thing ever. Sonic was no different, maybe even better than him, and seeing him like this; hot and flustered, the smell of his heat and feel of his energy radiating towards him, he realized he'd be more than happy to throw him down and pound him crazy.

He was surprised how easy it was to latch onto Sonic's energy and twist it around. It was like playing with clay or putty. If it was going to be this easy, he was going to have one hell of a time with him.

"You alright?" he asks with a grin, watching Sonic scowl in return.

"What did you do?" the hero asks, practically seething. His voice was low and menacing, and damn was it hot.

Scourge smiles sickenly sweet, reaching into his left pocket to pull out two pairs of handcuffs. He grabs Sonic's arms and cuffs them behind his back as he answers. "Anarchy Beryl can manipulate Dark Chaos Energy," he explains as he cuffs Sonic's ankles as well. "That's why you can't move or do jack shit against me right now."

All Sonic could do was shiver and tremble violently, feeling his heat come on a lot faster than it should have ever. He was fucked, he knew it, and he could only hope Shadow would come look for him soon.

...wait…

He felt his heart stop as Scourge lifted him up and threw him over his shoulder, the realization nailing him head on…

" _We need to figure something out about Knuckles, though," the blue hero was saying. "He's been giving me the stink eye, so I wouldn't be surprised if he suspects something."_

_Sitting up as well, Shadow frowns, running a hand through his quills. "We just need to avoid each other as much as possible, then. Until we find another meeting place, just show up here when you go into heat."_

" _Then stop showing up before I have a chance to."_

He had told Shadow to not come find him.

Would he still come look for him, anyway?

* * *

Shadow frowns at the clock on his nightstand.

Sonic should have been here by now.

He could tell the hero was definitely in heat, but he still hadn't shown up. Was he in the middle of a mission? Was he just being stubborn? He wasn't supposed to go look for him, but he was starting to feel like he should, Knuckles be damned.

He sits up and reaches for the top drawer of his nightstand, pulling it open to pick up the picture of him and Sonic he kept in there.

It wasn't there.

He blinks, standing up, searching through the entire drawer and even emptying its contents onto his bed. Where was it?

He searches the entire bed, under it, then every drawer of every piece of furniture in his room.

It was gone.

That...was his favorite picture. It was the very day he got the camera. Back when Sonic actually liked him. Actually wanted to be around him.

...and now it was missing.

Maybe Rouge knew?

* * *

Zonic glared from behind the glass pod he was stuck in, watching Eggman work on some kind of large machine, meant to hold all seven emeralds, including the Master. "What is your plan?" he asks, irritated and impatient.

Eggman doesn't even look back at him as he answers. "I'm sure you know, Zone Commander. Get Sonic to give up his immortality by causing as much pain in his life as possible."

Zonic's ears pin back, his brows furrowing. "How did you know Silver and I would be here?"

The doctor polishes off some of the metal he had screwed on the machine. "I figured the moment I involved Scourge you would show up eventually, so I set up a system that could detect the equipment you Zone Cops use all around. Once I saw Silver here as well, I knew exactly what you were doing. Meaningly," he turns and smirks at the cop. "Silver was here to prevent me from succeeding, which means I did in another timeline. I won't fail again."

"Once I'm out of here, you will," Zonic growls. "Scourge would have been involved for another reason entirely. You blackmailing him is going to bite you in the ass."

Eggman shrugs. "He's not a problem. Besides, I'm letting him keep Sonic when all of this is over. I won't need him, anyway."

"You're sick," Zonic hisses. "You know what he's going to do to him."

"And I should care, why?" the doctor questions. "It's none of my business."

"You're messing with things you know you shouldn't," Zonic exclaims. "What do you think is going to happen once Sonic's body is separated from his energy? That body was made specifically to contain that energy. Where do you think it's going to go once it no longer has the shell that it's supposed to stay in?!"

Eggman sighs, dusting himself off. "I'm just going to sink it back inside the Master Emerald. That spirit can deal with it."

"Are you serious?!" Zonic yells. "The Master Emerald was only made for-!"

He's cut off with a beep as Eggman turns the speaker off for the glass pod. He didn't care about any of that. He absolutely couldn't stand those Zone Cops. Always acting like they knew everything, always acting like they're just entitled to get involved whenever they want.

No, this plan was too perfect to change anything now. He's worked way too hard on this. He wasn't going to let anyone tell him otherwise.

Even if the world was destroyed, it would at least mean he finally won.

* * *

Scourge watches with pure interest.

Sonic's heat had sped up its usual process thanks to his Anarchy Beryl. After throwing Sonic on a bed in the abandoned Knothole Base, he just sat and watched on a nearby chair with curiosity. He wanted to know what would happen if Sonic's heat got too bad.

Sonic couldn't move much. He could barely sit up on the bed, hands and feet still cuffed, but he was shaking and writhing and cursing under his breath, rolling back and forth and kicking his legs periodically. He was sweating profusely, face, ears, and chest crimson, body fidgeting uncontrollably. He would let out these soft whines and whimpers, squeezing his eyes shut and fingers clenching into tight fists, before he would call out with a loud curse and kick and struggle a bit before going completely still.

It was like he was so horny he was going insane, as if someone had drugged him with aphrodisiacs and left him to struggle on his own.

...and it was getting worse as the hours ticked by.

The green hedgehog had always been super patient, compared to his prime counterpart. Waiting and watching was more than fine with him. He could sit back and enjoy the show. It was amusing, to say the  _least_.

According to those notes he found after sneaking into Mobotropolis and Sonic's home, it would take about eight hours before Sonic's mate realized something was seriously wrong and would start looking for him. Thanks to the amount of Anarchy Beryl in this place, he wouldn't be able to detect or feel Sonic's energy, and so it would take him forever to find him.

Eventually after long enough, the Light Chaos Born would lose his mind, and it would eventually start to hurt him as it was Sonic, if not worse than.

Shadow was going to be beyond angry, but it was  _so_ going to be worth it, he thought.

"Having fun?" he decides to ask nicely, which in turn earns him a huff.

" _Fuck you,"_ Sonic practically spits at him, another harsh shudder coursing through him. Scourge only grinned.

"Maybe not like that, but I could fuck you if you wanted me to."

" _SHUT UP!"_


End file.
